Quick guide:
India v England Women : 1st ODI
Intent has been the buzzword for cricketing circles in Indian soil. While test matches can have varying manifestations of ‘Intent’, limited over games make things easy for the players and the spectators in this regard. The white-ball game in recent times has been all about runs and the meteoric rise of Men’s English side post 2015 debacle gives us a comprehensive case study to understand the rising vitality of positive stroke-making.
The recently concluded 50-over contest between women from India and England has opened floodgates for fans to ponder upon ‘Intent’ after the despised scene from Southampton.
Match Summary
India was called on to bat by the English skipper at Bristol. Mandhana and Verma were opening for the side after a satisfactory showdown in the solitary test. The duo got on well with the young sensation Shafali going for the big heaves. Her innings stood by the sword, as they say, and it went down as well. Shrubsole took an easy catch to see the end of Verma and then got Mandhana’s off stump dislodged.
With the Indian middle-order on the crease, the runs were not coming off easy. Punam Raut played an innings off 32 and faced 61 deliveries. Similarly, the skipper had a dry outing at the start and with 72 off 108 balls, she could accelerate the run rate. Deepti and Pooja tried to up the ante but to no avail. Indian side could only manage one more than 200 in the allotted 50 overs. It is startling to note that only Shafali Verma could accumulate scores at a strike rate of more than 100. All the other scoring rates were less than one run per ball. Brunt was the pick of the bowlers and got three dismissals for her side.
If, however, someone thought that English conditions are not good for batting then the second inning was an eye-opener. Tammy Beaumont (87*) and Natalie Sciver (74*) got the English side home. Remarkably, they played with a strike rate of 100. Win came in a comprehensive manner with 15 overs to spare. Jhulan Goswami and Ekta Bisht were the only successful bowlers for India. The batting, to be summed up, was artistic with picturesque stroke making for the spectators to see.
At no point, it must be noted, that English appeared to have slowed down. They were marching to the target in a majestic passion. Indian middle-order and perhaps the conservative play failed to change the gears. This is not a new frame of play for Indian women, and it is one of the reasons, apart from the majestic striking ability, that Verma is so highly valued in the Indian cricketing circles. While it may be naïve to ask experienced campaigners like Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur to imitate the big hitters of other fancy t20 teams, there is a a need for reconsidering. More runs and lesser dot balls. Let’s keep this simple for the time being.
Key Take-aways
- It is important to adapt to the situations at hand. However, if you are in a team based work/sport, not everyone should work with an adapt-to-situation mindset, one or two members might have to step up and take the risk or have a few members who can change the gears of performance when needed and are confident about executing the same.
- Sometimes people may question you for your approach towards something because they have certain expectations from you, but it is important to note that it is their expectation and you need to focus/work on what goals the team has set your you and what goals you have set for yourself.
- It is important to practice and mentally train yourself to perform better under pressure situations in order to respond to it better. One way to do that is visualization (practice with guidance from a professional in the initial phase). Visualize yourself performing under pressure and prepare for the game/presentation. It often helps to be mentally prepared for pressure situations and also helps in responding well to the pressure.
Stats and records from the game
- Shafali Verma is the first Indian cricketer to debut and open in all three formats of the game (Test/ODI/T20I) before the age of 18.
- Deepti Sharma crossed the mark of 1500 runs in ODIs after scoring 30 in the 1st ODI.
- Natalie Sciver became the fastest women’s cricketer to reach 2000 ODI runs (2061 balls) beating Meg Lanning’s record of 2000 runs in 2069 balls.
~Shubham Sharma (Guest Author), Urvi Shah (Author)
Stats by : Poulami Das (Stats Analyst)
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