ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 India vs Pakistan: Five things that helped India clinch the world title
- India thrashed Pakistan by 95 runs in the finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 on Sunday, June 2, 2017
- India, who posted 169 runs bowled Pakistan out for 74 in the low-scoring game
- It was the bowlers who kept taking wickets steadily and contributed to India’s win in this low scoring match
FollowIndia thrashed Pakistan by 95 runs in the finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 on Sunday, June 2, 2017. Although India posted only 169 runs on the scoreboard, Pakistan was bowled out for just 74 runs. While a few batswomen failed to provide the required firepower, it was the bowlers who kept taking wickets steadily and contributed to India’s win in this low scoring match. Here is what the Indian team did right to clinch the World Cup.
1) The second wicket stand
Smriti Mandhana has played brilliantly throughout the world cup. However, on Sunday she fell to pacer Diana Baig’s in-swinger that hit her pads in the fourth over, having scored only 2. In came Deepti Sharma and together with Poonam Raut steadily put runs on the scoreboard. Together they scored 67 runs from 113 balls before Nashra Sandhu took Poonam’s wicket. She scored 47 runs from 72 balls while Deepti scored 28 from 63 balls.
2) The lower order fight back
Sushma Verma’s career had almost nothing to show for as spectacular or even dependable. Her top score was 4 and she had scored only 13 runs in 22 One Day Internationals. On Sunday however, she scored 33 runs off 36 balls and along with Jhulan Goswami added 47 runs to help India reach closer to the 170 runs mark. Sushma Verma also hit India’s only six in the match.
3) Ekta Bisht, the destroyer
India’s captain Mitali Raj decided to let Ekta Bisht bowl early on in the game possibly because of her bowling figures the last time India played Pakistan. In the ICC World Cup Qualifier back in February, Bisht scalped five wickets giving only eight runs with seven maiden overs, a career-best numbers for the spinner from Himachal Pradesh. She continued the same run against Pakistan on Sunday when she again picked five wickets giving 18 runs and with two maiden overs, making her the Player of the Match. In her first spell, she took the wickets of Ayesha Zafar, Sidra Nawaz and Iram Javed to leave Pakistan at 14/4 after seven overs which rattled the Pakistani side from which they never recovered.
4) Contribution of bowlers
After posting a low score of 169, the onus was on the bowlers to turn the game around for India. While Ekta Bisht picked up five wickets in total, other bowlers too chipped in. Mansi Joshi bowled exceptionally well, with two wickets and two maiden overs to her credit. She had an economy rate of 1.5. Bowlers like Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma and Jhulan Goswami picked one wicket each to help bowl Pakistan out.
5) Great decisions
Although Captain Mitali Raj was unable to score in the crucial match, she placed confidence in her players, especially the bowlers. The Indian skipper praised Jhulan Goswami and Sushma Verma’s knock later in the later when the top order fell. She also made the right decision of making Ekta Bisht bowl early on, keeping in mind her previous record against Pakistan.
