It seems like India’s women team is not only inspiring its fans and followers but also their male counterparts with their unbelievable exploit in the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup in England.
After giving two batting masterclasses in the impressive wins against England and reigning World T20 champions West Indies, Mithali Raj & Co. had their back against the wall in the third match against Pakistan on Sunday (July 2). India’s decision to bat first on a used County Ground pitch totally backfired, as they managed to put up just 169 for nine in the allotted 50 overs.
India’s innings was derailed to a certain extent even before they could reach the 100-run mark when their in-form players Smriti Mandhana (2) and skipper Mithali Raj (8) were dismissed for a single-digit score.
Punam Raut’s 47-run knock had calmed down the nerves in the dressing room but once she was dismissed and was followed by Mithali, the floodgates opened, as India, was reduced from 93 for three to 111 for six. Sushma Verma then chipped in with a handy knock of 33 runs to steer the team to a respectable total.
But the 169-run proved to be more than enough in the end, as India bowled out Pakistan for a paltry 74 to win the match by 95 runs. Ekta Bisht was the chief architect of the impressive victory, keeping things tight for the Pakistani players and taking wickets at regular intervals to put India firmly on top. By the time the 15th over ended, Pakistan was reeling at 26 for six before a little resistance from their opener Nahida Khan (23) and Sana Mir (29) took the score over 50.
But the writing was very much on the wall, as India folded up Pakistan’s innings on 74 to register its third consecutive victory. Bisht finished with figures of five for 18 in 10 overs.
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The Indian women have been garnering praise from all over for their stunning win and now Sanjay Bangar has also joined the bandwagon. India’s batting coach not only hailed the team’s performance but also said that the Men in Blue are taking inspiration from their female counterparts.
“I want to congratulate our Indian women’s cricket team. They won back to back three matches. Today as well, they needed to defend just 169 runs. So they displayed a spectacular bowling performance. We are getting inspired from them fully. They had already won three matches, but the tournament is very long,” Bangar said in an interview with ANI.
He also hoped that India’s women team could go all the way in the World Cup and make up for Virat Kohli & Co.’s heart-breaking loss in the final of the Champions Trophy last month.
“I hope the tempo and the early momentum they have got will continue. Hopefully, the women’s team could make up for Indian men’s Champions Trophy loss by winning the World Cup,” he added.
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