Reminiscing Mithali Raj's best ODI knock against England
On the back of a magnificent knock by skipper Mithali Raj(75*) against England, India managed to win the thriller by chasing off the target in the last over with three balls to spare. Earlier, the bowlers had set up a good platform for the batters by restricting England to 219 in the first innings.
Smriti Mandhana(49) and Sneh Rana(24) played aggressive knocks to lend support to Mithali Raj in the chase. In the end, the Indian skipper in the company of Jhulan Goswami took her team home by hitting a boundary off of Katherine Brunt's delivery.
Mithali Raj already has a great record against England, and she improved it further by playing another match-winning knock. In 58 ODI matches against England, she has scored 2004 runs at an average of 50.10, including 20 fifties. Mithali has four 90+ scores against the English team in ODI's so far.
On that note, let's revisit the past and reminisce about Mithali Raj's best ODI knock against England.
Mithali Raj's 98-run knock went in vain as England edged out India by winning the 12th match of the World Series of Women's Cricket in 2003 by one run
Lincoln No 3 ground, in New Zealand, was the venue for all the matches of the 4-team World Series of Women's Cricket in 2003. India, Australia, England, and hosts New Zealand participated in the multi-team tournament. Australia went on to win the trophy by defeating the Kiwis side in the finals.
The Clare Connor-led English side faced off against India in the 12th game of the series at Lincoln. Indian skipper Anjum Chopra won the toss and invited the opponents to bat first.
Openers Sarah Collyer(33) and Kathryn Leng(22) gave a steady start to England by putting on 66 runs for the first wicket in 18 overs. Charlotte Edwards(79*) and Arran Brindle(38) went on to build the innings on that platform to take England to 208/4 in 50 overs. Indian bowlers bowled good lines and proved to be economical. Neetu David(1/20) was the best Indian bowler on the day as she gave away just 20 runs in her 10-overs quota, which included four maidens.
In reply, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but Mithali Raj(98 in 126 balls) held one end up and gave India hope of winning the match. She stitched useful partnerships with Anjum Chopra(26) and Hemlata Kala(38), but they also failed to convert their starts into substantial scores.
Mithali Raj almost singlehandedly took her team to the shores of victory as the team needed just 8 runs from 14 balls at the end to win. The talismanic batter, unfortunately, got run out of the next ball. She had to walk away frustratedly stranded on 98 and having lost the opportunity to see off the chase for India.
England picked up the next three wickets and bundled out India for 207 in 50 overs. Clare Connor(2/39) and Sarah Collyer(2/35) starred with the ball in death overs to restrict India from chasing the total.