In the ninth match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, two Group B teams, namely India Women and West Indies Women, will be clashing against each other. The much-fancied game of cricket is scheduled to be played at the Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday.
With one win in their pocket, India Women is occupying second place in the Group B points table just behind England Women. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side fought a battle with Pakistan Women in their opening game of the ICC event and ended up winning it by seven wickets.
Coming to Wednesday’s fixture, India Women are unlikely to make any changes in their playing XI as both batters and bowlers were in a perfect rhythm making it an all-round performance by the team. Smriti Mandhana could have been the only inclusion in the team but the chances are less considering the seriousness of the RCB star batter’s injury.
Speaking of West Indies, they will be low on momentum as they suffered a seven-wicket loss against England Women in the first match by seven wickets. The team was let down by the batters as they ended up with only 135 runs in 20 overs and the big defeat pushed the team to the bottom of the points table. Despite the loss, West Indies Women are expected to play the same playing XI.
What has happened so far?
So far in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, both India Women and West Indies Women have played one game each. India Women registered a seven-wicket win against the arch-rivals Pakistan Women by chasing 150 runs in their allotted 20 overs with ease.
Radha Yadav was the pick of the bowler as she scalped two wickets in four overs at an economy rate of 5.2. Meanwhile, the second innings saw Jemimah Rodrigues delivering a player-of-the-match performance with her knock of 53* runs.
She received support from the likes of Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh as they added 33 and 31 runs to the scoreboard, respectively.
On the other hand, West Indies Women failed to impress in their first game against England Women as they scored defeat by seven wickets. Opting to bat first, the team posted only 135 runs as apart from Hayley Matthews, no other batter scored even 35 runs.
Chinelle Henry made good efforts in the second innings by picking two wickets, but it was an easy target and England won in 14.3 overs only.
Head to Head Record
India Women have clashed with West Indies Women in a total of 20 matches in the history of T20 Internationals. The Women in Blue have an edge when it comes to head-to-head records as they have scored a win 12 times while the Caribbean side has scored a victory in eight matches.
The two teams last played against each other in the tri-series featuring West Indies Women, India Women, and South Africa Women. India won both the league games against West Indies during the tournament to top the points tally.
Key Players
Jemimah Rodrigues (India Women)
The top-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues was the top player for India Women in their opening match against Pakistan Women. When the Women in Blue were chasing 150 runs, the 22-year-old remained unbeaten while scoring 53 runs off 38 balls to take her team home in 19 overs.
Rodrigues is again expected to spill her magic on the 22-yard pitch against West Indies Women on Wednesday.
Hayley Matthews (West Indies Women)
In an otherwise poor outing against England Women, the opening batter Hayley Matthews was the only positive for the Caribbean side. Opening the innings alongside Stafanie Taylor, Matthews scored 42 runs off 32 balls with the help of eight boundaries.
The 24-year-old also has good international experience with 1493 runs to her name in 79 T20 Internationals. Thus, we are backing Matthews to continue her good performance in the ICC event and deliver another good performance on Wednesday.
Predicted Playing XI
India Women: Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur ©, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh
West Indies Women: Hayley Matthews ©, Rashada Williams (wk), Shemaine Campbelle, Stafanie Taylor, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Chedean Nation, Zaida James, Afy Fletcher, Shamilia Connell, Shakera Selman
Prediction
The Indian Women’s cricket team kick-started their journey in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 with a win against Pakistan Women by seven wickets. However, West Indies did not enjoy the same fate in their opening match as they succumbed to a defeat by seven wickets against England Women.
Thus, India Women will have momentum on their side and the pundits would back them to score their second win on Wednesday.