India women will be looking to continue their decent form when they take on Barbados women in the 10th match of Group A of Commonwealth Games women’s cricket Competition 2022 played at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on Tuesday.
India women comfortably brushed aside Pakistan in a rain-affected game played at Birmingham. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur will be hoping that the side can deliver a clinical performance against Barbados women.
On the other hand, Barbados women were completely outplayed by Australia women. The side will be keen to get back to winning ways against India women.
What have they done so far?
The Indian team management will be hoping that the side can maintain their standards with bat and ball. In the previous match, opener Smriti Mandhana was the standout performer with the bat for the Indian women’s team. She looked in excellent touch with the bat and smashed 63 not out off 42 balls with the help of eight boundaries and three sixes.
In the batting department, the onus will be on the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma to deliver the bulk of the runs.
In the bowling department, the onus will be on the likes of Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh, Radha Yadav and Sneha Rana to provide crucial breakthroughs.
Barbados women’s team were blanked by Australia in Sunday’s group game
The Barbados side will be keen to learn from their mistakes and put in an improved performance with the bat. In the previous match against Australia, Barbados women failed to adjust to the conditions and were bundled out for 64 all out in 20 overs.
Captain Hayley Matthews was the only player who reached double-digits for Barbados women. She scored 18 runs off 13 balls with the help of four boundaries.
In the batting department, the onus will be on the likes of Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews and Kyshona Knight to deliver the bulk of the runs especially after losing star player Deandra Dottin to retirement.
In the bowling department, the onus will be on the likes of Shamilia Connell, Shakera Selman, Keila Eliott, Hayley Matthews and Shanika Bruce to provide crucial breakthroughs, but the Barbadians will surely miss Deandra Dottin who often provides crucial breakthroughs in the middle.
Team News
India all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has recovered from COVID-19 and is set to join the women’s cricket team at the Commonwealth Games. It will be however interesting to see whether Vastrakar will play India’s final group game against Barbados although she will be available for that match.
Meanwhile, Barbados all-rounder Deandra Dottin announced her retirement from international cricket with immediate effect on Monday, August 1. It remains unclear if Dottin will be available for Barbados’ last match of the CWG group stage against India although she has stated that she will remain available to play domestic cricket around the world.
Head to Head record
This will be the very first instance when the two sides play out each other in the history of the format and hence head to head records are not applicable for this fixture. However, both teams will be eager to kickstart this new rivalry with a win.
Key Players
Hayley Matthews (Barbados): Hayley Matthews, the fifth-ranked all-rounder in the ICC Women’s Rankings, holds the key to the team’s fortunes at the CWG 2022, particularly with the bat to hold the innings together from the start and unleash when needed.
She was the West Indies’ standout batter at the World Cup earlier this year, and she recently led the run-scoring charts in both the Women’s Super50 Cup and the Twenty20 Blaze at home, showing plenty of promise ahead of the season. Her right-arm off-breaks, which have taken 58 T20I wickets at an economy of less than a run-a-ball, provide variety and stability to the bowling attack.
Harmanpreet Kaur is the player to watch out for in this match
Harmanpreet Kaur (India): Harmanpreet Kaur, known for her candour, will be hoping to lead her team from the front. She is the only Indian woman to have scored a century in T20I cricket. Harmanpreet Singh, who surpassed former captain Mithali Raj to become India’s leading run-scorer in the shortest format in June, is India’s middle-order mainstay.
She had a successful outing against Sri Lanka prior to the Commonwealth Games, emerging as the ‘player of the tournament’ in both T20Is and ODIs. Though she hasn’t had big innings in a while, her ability to swing the bat for maximum points could boost India’s chances of a CWG medal.
Predicted Playing XI
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Sabbhineni Meghana, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh
Barbados: Charlene Taitt, Hayley Matthews (C), Kycia Knight (WK), Kyshona Knight, Aaliyah Alleyne, Trishan Holder, Alisa Scantlebury, Shakera Selman, Shamilia Connell, Keila Elliott, Shanika Bruce
Prediction
When taking into account the margin of India’s victory over Pakistan coupled with Barbados’ loss against the mighty Australians, it’s hard not to see the Women in Blue dominating once again in this one, even if this is a 20-over contest.
Sri Lanka pushed India close a couple of times in this format last month in their own den, but Barbados don’t appear to boast the same quality of players within their ranks as Sri Lanka does in their home conditions. India has taken apart their opponents’ bowling attack in T20I cricket and they are well worth backing to do the same here, ultimately recording an extremely comprehensive victory.