2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in their win over Pakistan in the Women's T20 World Cup 2023
Team India were stretched by Pakistan in their first game of the Women's T20 World Cup 2023 in Cape Town on Sunday, February 12, but held their nerves under pressure to clinch a seven-wicket win.
With the victory, India parked themselves in second spot in the Group 2 table, with England having a better run rate at the top. Jemimah Rodrigues was adjudged the Player of the Match, while Radha Yadav and Richa Ghosh made notable contributions as well.
The Women in Blue came away with the two points, but it wasn't their greatest performance. Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke by India in their win over Pakistan in the Women's T20 World Cup 2023.
#3 Mistake - India suffered an inexcusable over-rate penalty
India went into the game against Pakistan with only two fast bowlers in their playing XI. Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar bowled just seven overs between them, with the remaining 13 overs being bowled by spinners.
Despite this, India had to contend with an over-rate penalty for the last two overs of Pakistan's innings. They had to have an extra fielder in the circle, something that cost them on multiple occasions as Bismah Maroof found the gaps on offer on a regular basis.
Those runs could've turned out to be the difference between a win and a loss. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur needs to shoulder much of the blame for a frankly inexcusable error.
#2 Masterstroke - Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh saw the game through
At the end of the 14th over, which saw Harmanpreet dismissed while playing a rash slog-sweep in Nashra Sandhu's final over, the required run rate for India was 9.16.
With four overs remaining in the innings, the Women in Blue needed 41 runs, with Richa Ghosh surviving a couple of close shaves and Jemimah Rodrigues batting on a sedate 33 off 30 balls. It would've been easy for them to attempt careless aerial shots in an attempt to get ahead of the asking rate, but the young duo were supremely calculative.
In the 18th over bowled by Aiman Anwar, Richa played the field, grabbing three boundaries through the off-side without taking any unwarranted risks. In the 19th, it was Jemimah's turn to score a hat-trick of boundaries, with India getting over the line comfortably.
Jemimah and Richa held their nerves under pressure to see the game through, something the more senior players like Harmanpreet couldn't do.
#1 Mistake - India's fielding was atrocious
Right from the start of the match, India's fielding just wasn't up to the mark. You can chalk it down to nerves, but this is a problem that has plagued the side for quite a while now.
India gave away easy runs with sloppy ground fielding and dished out a few needless overthrows as well. Then, as the innings wore on, their best fielders committed silly errors.
Radha Yadav shelled a simple catch at long-off in the 19th over, with Ayesha Naseem getting a lifeline. Harleen Deol then palmed a ball over the long-off boundary in the next over as Naseem benefited from it once again. Richa even missed a tough stumping off the penultimate ball of the innings, bizarrely not even attempting to get her gloves to the ball.
India's miserable fielding arguably also contributed to their over-rate penalty, and it's something they simply cannot afford in the upcoming games of the Women's T20 World Cup 2023.