Women's World T20 Cup

4th Match: IND-W vs PAK-W

 Preview

An epic encounter awaits between one of the biggest rivalries in the cricketing world. The fourth match of the Women's T20 WC 2023 will take place between IND-W and PAK-W on Sunday, 12th February at 06:30 PM IST. This match is scheduled to take place at Newlands, Cape Town. 

Team India has a strong bowling department and a few high-quality batters who can dominate any attack in the world and they will also be the favourites for this WC. IND-W was the runners-up in the most recent edition of the tournament, where they lost out to a dominant AUS-W side in the finals. Harmanpreet Kaur's side will start their T20 WC 2023 journey when they take on arch-rivals Women in green on Sunday. PAK-W has had a poor time in T20Is recently and will need to be at their best.

Women in Blue have had a mixed run in women's T20Is over the last year. Team India reached the finals of the tri-series in SA-W recently after winning every league game, but fell short in the last hurdle, losing to the Proteas women in the final. Before that, IND-W were beaten 1-4 at home by Australia. 

The left-handed destructive batter Smriti Mandhana has been India’s best batter in T20Is this season, with 348 runs from 15 innings at an average of 29 and a strike rate of 126.54. The stylish left-handed opener will be the key player for India in this tournament. Team India's skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (246 runs in the last 9 matches at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 127.46) may be inconsistent at times, but when she gets going, she can destroy any attack.

The 2nd-placed T20I all-rounder Deepti Sharma is another player who can make a huge impact for India. Sharma averages 38.09 with the bat from her last 30 T20Is and is the leading wicket-taker for her country in the format since 2022. Deepti also led the wickets chart recently in the tri-series in South Africa, taking nine wickets at an economy rate of 5.56. Moreover, her ability to accelerate in the middle and death-overs makes her a valuable asset down the order.

Also keep an eye out for leg-spinner Devika Vaidya (6 wickets in the last 10 matches at an economy of 8.77), who can be useful on these surfaces.

Women in green, PAK-W is heading into the ICC Women's T20 WC 2023 with a mixed bag of form. PAK lost 0-2 to AUS-W and was beaten 1-2 by Ireland at home. These losses would have certainly dented their confidence a bit, and Maroof's team would be hoping to start the tournament on a positive note. For PAK-W, the main aim would be to get past the group stages for the first time in the tournament's history.

The 07th-placed all-rounder in the world Nida Dar is the team’s most valuable player. The 36-year-old right-handed batter was Pakistan's best run-scorer and wicket-taker in T20Is last year, accumulating 396 runs and taking 15 wickets in 16 matches. Dar was also Pakistan’s star player in last year’s Women’s Asia Championship,  where Dae collected 145 runs at an average of 72.50 while also picking up 8 wickets.

Pakistani Opener Muneeba Ali, who has 167 runs in her last 10 matches at a strike rate of 92.26, is another batter to keep an eye out for. Then there’s PAK-W skipper Bismah Maroof herself, who has scored 2560 runs in T20Is from 123 innings at an average of 26.66 and a strike rate of 90.87.

For Pakistan, Nashra Sandhu has found some form recently, and her slow left-arm spin might trouble the batters. She has taken 12 wickets in her last 7 matches at an economy of 5.92.

Match Details

Match: WI-W vs ENG-W, 4th Match, Women's World T20 Cup

Date: Sunday, 12 February

Time: 06:30 PM

Venue: Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa

Pitch & Weather Report

The venue is known to assist fast bowlers. It has consistent bounce and early movement while also assisting spinners. The Batters, however, will get their chance to score once they see off the first few overs when the ball will move around under lights.

The average score batting first at a venue in women’s T20Is is 131. The highest total posted here is 166-4 by IND-W against SA-W in 2018. The team batting first in this match should look to set a target of around 160-170 runs.

Of the 5 women’s T20Is played at this venue, 3 have been won by the team batting first. The team winning the toss in this game is hence likely to bat first as well.

The maximum temperature will remain at 24°C, with a low of 17°C with 75% humidity, and a wind speed of 16 Km/hr for the second 4th Match, the Women's World T20 Cup on Feb 12 b/w IND-W vs PAK-W. The weather in New Lands, Paarl during the game will be cool and pleasant on this match day.

IND-W vs PAK-W Squad:

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

PAK-W: Bismah Maroof (c), Aimen Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Sadaf Shamas, Fatima Sana, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan.

IND-W vs PAK-W: Probable XIs

IND-W: Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Thakur Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey

PAK-W: Muneeba Ali (wk), Javeria Khan, Bismah Maroof (c), Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Ayesha Naseem, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Tuba Hassan, Aiman Anwer, Sadia Iqbal

Match Prediction

IND-W hold a 10-3 head-to-head lead over PAK-W in T20Is. However, in their most recent clash at the Women's Asia Championship, Women in green stunned Women in Blue as they successfully defended a target of 138 by 13 runs. That victory will certainly be a massive confidence booster for the PAK-W. 

The Pakistan side has the perfect mix of youth and experience in their squad and can pose a serious challenge to Indian Women. However, Women in Blue appears to have much better overall balance and depth. There are chinks in their T20I batting template, and if the PAK-W bowlers can expose those, IND-W might crumble. That said, with Mandhana in fine form and with their most attacking batter. We say India dominate this match on Sunday and open their account with a win over Pakistan. 

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