Women's World T20 Cup

14th Match: IND-W vs WI-W

Preview

It's a battle between current table toppers from Group B, England and the runner-up in the same group India, who will face each other in the 14th match of the Women's T20 WC 2023 on Saturday, 18th February at 06:30 PM IST. This match is scheduled to take place at St George's Park Cricket Ground, Port Elizabeth.

The  Women's T20 WC 2023, is finally up and running and the stakes could not be higher. All teams have played at least 2 games, and have had their time to assess the pitch and conditions. Each game from here can decide a team's fate when it comes to eventually winning the WC. The two favourite teams who can lift the trophy will face off against each other in this battle.

Heather Knight-led English side, come into this competition as one of the early favourites to win this WC. After winning both of their first 2 games, ENG-W has shown why they come in with those tags. The English side will want to win the WC again, after being unable to win it since 2009. They defeated the Irish Women's in the last match by 4 wickets in their last encounter in match number six.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India side has gone off to a fantastic start, winning both the games in the group so far. After coming so close in the last edition, they will want to make amends this edition. Also coming into the tournament as favourites, Women in Blue will look to go all the way. They defeated Windies' side in the last match by 6 wickets while chasing the target of 119 runs, the side achieved the target in 18.1 overs.

Team India who was eliminated in the semi-final in the last edition of the Women's T20 WC will be looking to fancy their chances this time, The English side will be looking to go 2 better and win the tournament as they did in the first-ever edition. Not only do they have the team, but also have the momentum as they have won both their games in the tournament so fast.

After being put in the field by the IRE-W in the last match, things could not have gone better for the ENG-W. After a decent start by the Irish side with the bat, ENG managed to claw their way back as they managed to bowl out Ireland for a score of 105. Stars with the ball Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn were exceptional as they picked up 3 wickets each.

With a score of 106 to chase, it seemed like quite an easy task for the stature of the ENG's W team. And so it proved to be as they chased down the target in a mere 14.2 overs losing 6 wickets. The middle order batter Alice Capsey blew the Irish away with an exceptional 51 off 22 balls which also included 10 fours and one maximum. Coming into this tournament, the expectations from the Women in Blue have been at an all-time high, and their performances so far have taken it a notch higher. With 2 wins in 2 games, team India will want to remain undefeated and clinch the Women's T20 WC for the first time.

Put into the field after losing the toss, the Indian bowlers made an exceptional start picking up the first wicket in the second over itself in the last match against Windies. After an impressive platform set up by the WI-W batters after that, the Indian bowlers fought back exceptionally and restricted the West Indies to just 118 runs. The all-rounder Deepti Sharma was incredible as she picked up 3 wickets for 15 runs.

The batting department made easy work, as India chased down the target in 18.1 overs. With a good opening partnership with a fantastic end to the innings lower down the order, the Indian would be mighty impressed with this performance. The current finisher of the side Richa Ghosh was once again mighty impressive scoring 44 off 32 balls.

Match Details

Match: ENG-W vs IND-W, 14th Match, Women's World T20 Cup

Date: Saturday, 18 February

Time: 06:30 PM

Venue: St George's Park Cricket Ground, Port Elizabeth

Pitch & Weather Report

This venue has a capacity of the ground is 19,000 and it will host this 14th match of the Women's T20 WC between ENG-W vs IND-W. At this venue the last 5 T20s played here, the team batting first has won 2 games and the batting second has won 3 games.  The team that wins the toss would want to bowl first at St George's Park Cricket Ground. Given the history of the ground, as well as the possibility of rains, batting second will be the most sensible option. Also, the pitch is not so famous for high scores, it is an advantage for the team batting second.

The maximum temperature will remain at 23°C, with a low of 18°C with 79% humidity, and a wind speed of 19 Km/hr for the 14th Match, the Women's WC T20 on Feb 18 b/w ENG-W vs IND-W. The weather in St George's Park Cricket Ground, SA during the match day will rain with precipitation of 100% but we might see a short game between both sides on Saturday.

ENG-W vs IND-W Squad:

ENG-W: Heather Knight (c), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt.

IND-W: Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh, Smriti Mandhana, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani.

ENG-W vs IND-W: Probable XIs

ENG-W: Sophia Dunkley, Danielle Wyatt, Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver, Heather Knight, Sophie Ecclestone, Katherine Brunt, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Bell, Charlotte Dean, Amy Jones 

IND-W: Shefali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh

Match Prediction

Both have depth in their batting and bowling, and both have won their last 2 fixtures as well. The stakes are high as can be and the teams contesting this are rivals between ENG-W and IND-W. Both teams come into this game high on confidence and with no chinks in their armour. Both sides come into this game undefeated, it makes for quite an interesting watch. Also, the winner of this game, is most likely to end up on the top of the table will raise the stakes even higher. We say England is likely to win this match keeping their records against Women in Blue in the past.

Suggested Playing XI Real11 Fantasy Cricket