Batting needs to fire for Indian eves

Jhulan Goswami & Co will be up against it when they meet New Zealand eves in their first World Twenty20 match at Warner Park, St Kitts, on Thursday.

The tournament got under way on Wednesday with West Indies beating South Africa in the opener.

The Indian women’s team, though, is on a high after beating world champions England in a three-match T20 series at home.

But going by their performance in the warm-up fixtures, India definitely have some work to do in the batting department. In the first warm-up against England, India lost by 25 runs chasing 134. Mithali Raj’s 44 and Harmandeep Kaur’s 28 were the only double figures. The rest of the batswomen could only add another 31.

The second warm-up fixture went in India’s favour as they thumped South Africa by 43 runs but again it was only Mithali who top scored 45. Skipper Goswami chipped in with an enterprising 39 but the batting unit clearly has a lot to do.

Going by the trend in the men’s event, Jhulan would rely on left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana to come trumps against the White Ferns (New Zealand).

Gouher, the 21-year old from Hyderabad, was impressive in the warm-ups, scalping 2 wickets in each game.
As for New Zealand, they convincingly beat Australia by 18 runs in their opening warm-up fixture.

They got a wake up call after losing to hosts by 3 wickets on Monday. For White Ferns to succeed they would rely heavily on skipper Aimee Watkins. The all-rounder did well, scoring 54 and scalping three wickets but all for a losing cause against the West Indies.

India’s other games: against Pakistan on May 8, against Sri Lanka on May 10