Lynn McConnell
|
10th Match: England Women v India Women at Lincoln, 4 Dec 2000 Lynn McConnell |
|
|
India Women innings:
England Women innings: Pre-game: |
India took an eight-run win from the game.
Apart from hitting a fine 29 from 28 balls at the end of India's innings to give India a defendable total of 155/7, Shastri played a key hand with her off-spin bowling.
Opening the bowling with Renu Margrate, she picked up the first England wicket, Kathryn Leng in only the fourth over.
Then when re-introduced into the attack for the 34th over with England 75/4, she bowled Jane Cassar for 18 to break up a developing partnership between Cassar and Claire Taylor.
She also made a huge breakthrough when enticing a return catch from Taylor in the 42nd over, when Taylor was 60.
Then just after Sarah Collyer breathed life back into the English cause with a big six off Deepa Kulkarni's bowling, Shastri held a necessary catch to dismiss Claire Taylor to have England struggling at 133/8.
England captain Clare Connor came in at the fall of Cassar's wicket and decided to take matters into her own hands with some risky shots, which worked until she was on 23.
At that stage she took on left-arm spinner Deepa Kulkarni, who had been in outstanding touch. Attempting to swing her to the leg-side she was beaten and bowled.
With three runs taken by tail-ender Claire Taylor, Kulkarni's eight overs had cost 14 runs with one wicket.
Sarah Collyer hit a big six to revive England's hopes and they went into the last over needing 11 runs off six balls.
Collyer was on 14, having seen Dawn Holden run out attempting two off the last ball of the 49th over.
However, she was run out on the second ball of the last over when she couldn't make her ground when being sent back trying the second.
Four wickets were down by the 21st over with England's hopes resting on the measured approach of Claire Taylor.
Afteer 30 overs she was on 32 with Jane Cassar on 12 with the side 60/4.
Taylor came in at the fall of the first wicket, when the score was five, but must have been frustrated by the manner of the departure of each of her partners.
Firstly, Charlotte Edwards was trapped leg before wicket having done all the hard work in her innings. She had scored only 13 in 18 overs but with time on her side should have been a key player.
Then in a horribly unnecessary waste Nicky Shaw attempted to hit Smitha Harikrishna back over her head before she had settled into the crease. She failed to get onto the ball at all and was caught at mid-off.
England was left at 35/4 and staring down the face of a wasted chance.
After 15 overs, England was 20/2 while attempting to recover from the early loss of two wickets in the quest to pass India's 155/7.
England survived a disaster of nuclear proportions off the first ball of the game.
Charlotte Edwards played the ball into the covers and looked to set off for a run then stopped but Kathryn Leng kept on running.
Both batsmen were at the same end and the ball was in the Indian fielder's hands in the covers. Leng set off on what looked to be a vain hope to regain her ground.
But India botched the return. It was wide of the stumps and the fielder attempted to throw down the wicket. But she missed and even a second throw from a fielder backing up was wide and in the meantime Leng made her ground.
She did not survive too much longer however, as Rupanjali Shastri, the off-spinner who opened the bowling with Renu Margrate induced an edge from Leng's bat which was held in the gully.
It fell to Edwards and Claire Taylor to turn things around and with Margrate proving difficult to get away, it was a struggle all the way. Edwards was 10 and Taylor nine after 15 overs.
England's first wicket fell for five runs. Then in the next over the experienced Barbara Daniels was leg before wicket without scoring with England in dire straits at 8/2.
Whether the lower-order Indian batting recovery is enough to shut England out will provide a fascinating backdrop to this afternoon's play.
At previous times in the tournament England has failed to take advantage of opportunities as they have occurred, but there was a much more purposeful look about the side as it contained a potentially strong Indian batting attack.
India did reach 155/7 after 50 overs and set up a fascinating battle for victory when England bats.
The impetus for England came from right from the start when left-arm medium-pace bowler Lucy Pearson had the Indian captain Anju Jain trapped leg before wicket for a duck in the first over.
Clare Taylor then bowled Anjum Chopra also for a duck.
Mithali Raj fought a single-handed battle to get India back into the game and chanced her arm while scoring 32 but with the score on 51 she succumbed to England captain Clare Connor's left-arm spin when nicely caught by wicket-keeper Jane Cassar standing up behind the stumps.
It was Connor who had the other strokemaker to get on top of the bowling Chanderkanta Kaul in exactly the same fashion. Kaul, with some big hitting was on 45, in the 34th over when she was out.
Purnima Rau helped Kaul score 38 for the fourth wicket but she departed for 12. With the two of them gone, India was 96/5.
What should have been the overs to cash in during the latter stages of the innings because overs of survival.
Smitha Harikrishna and Rupanjali Shastri came together in the 42nd over and worked sensibly to get India up toward the psychological target of 150.
Shastri hit a fine six from Pearson's bowling in the 49th over to take the score to 145. She hit a fine off drive for four to bring up the 150 and was 29 not out at the end. Harikrishna was 17 not out.
England's bowling saw Taylor finish with 2-18 off 10, Connor 2-25 (10), Dawn Holden 1-25 (10) and Pearson 1-29 (10).
After being 7/2 after six overs, India was in a near-disastrous position. In the 31st over India was 89/4.
The Indian recovery was led by Mithali Raj who took her chances to keep the score ticking over with some chancey, but effective strokeplay, which tested the English field.
England's opening bowlers Lucy Pearson and Clare Taylor bowled tightly but probably each bowled one over too many in their spell as the batsmen took advantage of the tiring bowlers.
England captain Clare Connor came on from the southern end of Lincoln Green and had Raj caught at the wicket by Jane Cassar for 32 with score on 51.
Chanderkanta Kaul took over the seniority in the scoring role and was quick to punish any loose bowling. She was lucky to survive two chances in the 26th over.
One would have been a fine outfielder's catch as Clare Taylor raced around the mid-wicket boundary and got her hands to the ball but was unable to hold it and it bounced into the fence for four runs.
Two balls later she lobbed a high chance to mid-on but Sarah Collyer muffed a catch that should have been taken.
At the end of 30 overs, Kaul was 40 not out and Purnima Rau was 11 not out.
However, further setback for India in the 31st when Rau was caught on the off-side for 12 runs to leave India 89/4.
Having decided to bat first after winning the toss, Indian captain Anju Jain had to deal with the looping inswing of England's opening bowler Lucy Pearson.
After one or two sighters she was trapped, creasebound, by one from Pearson which thumped into her pads and she was given out leg before wicket by umpire Brent Bowden.
It was the fifth over before the first runs were scored off the bat as Pearson and Claire Taylor probed and had the Indian batsmen fishing at deliveries outside the off stump.
Finally, it was Mithali Raj who get a ball from Pearson through the square leg area for four runs.
In the sixth over, there was another setback for India when Anjum Chopra was bowled when playing all round a ball from Taylor for a duck.
After six overs, India was 7/2.
Pearson continued to bowl as well as she has at any time since arriving in New Zealand to prepare for the Cup.
Working hard to regain the initiative from the English was Mithali Raj. She took some risks but fortune was on her side with some elegant strokes racing to the boundary.
Raj was the dominant force with the bat having scored 25 of the 32 runs posted by India after 15 overs.
Pearson was rested after seven overs with the figures of 1-13.
The slightest of breezes was set to provide a cooling effect on a brilliant sunny day, the best of the tournament to date.
India won the toss and decided to bat on a pitch that has been used for the two previous games played on the same ground.
One of those was when India beat Netherlands on Saturday. A win from the game is vital for England which lost its preliminary round game to South Africa on Saturday.
India is so far unbeaten in the tournament.
The teams are: England - Charlotte Edwards, Kathryn Leng, Barbara Daniels, Claire Taylor, Nicky Shaw, Jane Cassar, Clare Conner (captain), Sarah Collyer, Clare Taylor, Dawn Holden, Lucy Pearson.
India - Anju Jain (captain), Anjum Chopra, Mithai Raj, Chanderkanta Kaul, Hemlata Kala, Smitha Harikrishna, Deepa Kulkarni, Purnima Rau, Rupanjali Shastri, Reenu Margrate, Neetu David.
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 04 Dec2000 - 10:26