Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Taniya Bhatia hopeful of top-order coming good in knockout stage
The Indian eves continued their winning run in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, defeating New Zealand by three runs to become the first team to go through to the semi-finals. Despite the victory, India’s batting, especially in the middle overs, remains an area of concern.
However, the team's wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia, who has had a great time behind the stumps in the tournament so far, stated that it is just a matter of time before the top-order starts performing consistently.
Batting first in the match, India got off to a brisk start courtesy of another superlative knock from teenage sensation Shafali Verma. She top-scored with 46 to bag her second Player of the Match award of the tournament. Despite Verma’s brilliance at the top of the order, India failed to capitalize and registered a below-par score of 133 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
The Indian bowlers tightened the screws on the New Zealand batting line-up right from the start. It was a late cameo from Amelia Kerr which gave the Kiwis a glimmer of hope. However, her efforts eventually went in vain as Shikha Pandey held her nerves in the final over and delivered the goods.
Speaking after India’s victory, Taniya Bhatia said:
"We're in a really positive position," said Tanya after the match. "We've been playing well ever since the tri-series. I think we've got a lot better as a team in working out how to handle and read situations well."
Also see – ICC Women’s T20 world cup schedule
Bhatia was also full of praises for Verma, who proved to be the difference between the two sides in the end. She defended the likes of Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, both of whom haven't managed to score big in the tournament so far.
"We're playing well, it's just one or two odd games where our batters failed to perform, but I think Shafali is giving us a good start and the rest of us batters will take up responsibility," said Tanya.
She also shed light on her batting position and said she was ready to bat anywhere for the team. Bhatia had opened for India in the absence of Mandhana in the match against Bangladesh.
She was also hopeful that the team will be able to keep up the momentum and reach the final.
"I'm ready to bat wherever the team wants me to bat. I can bat well up the order and I know I'm capable of scoring runs there," Tanya said.
"The results are in our favour, but we need to keep up the momentum. If we do that, we will do well and hopefully reach the finals," she added.
With the semi-final spot already sealed, India might give chances to the reserve players in the inconsequential match against Sri Lanka (slated to be played on Saturday).