India won by 95 runs in cloudy Headingley because of an all-around performance by Shafali Verma, who took 3 for 20 after scoring her first fifty at a T20 World Cup. India was playing the Netherlands for the first time in a women's Twenty20 International, and their experience on the big stage proved too much for a Netherlands team that had just finished a close match against Bangladesh in the final overs on Sunday. This would not be a close battle.
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| Shree Charani claimed four wickets |
With Smriti Mandhana leading the way with a 47-ball 74, India scored their highest-ever T20 World Cup total of 209 for 5 when they were put in to bat first. The Netherlands batted hard for 114 before Shree Charani's session of 4 for 19 finished it off.
Thanks to a superior net run rate, India easily defeated Australia to take first place in Group 1, securing their second straight victory. Conversely, the Netherlands is still without a victory.
Mandhana and Shafali rule
Shafali's and Mandhana's opening partnership of 115 runs set the tone for India. Their stand was an illusory study. Throughout the 11.4 overs they shared in the middle, they kept their shots grounded and hardly took any chances against the Netherlands bowlers. They continued to score at a rate of nearly ten runs per over on the scorecard.
This was partly due to the Netherlands bowlers' careless mistakes. Myrthe van den Raad bowled a 12-ball over with seven runs off extras, and they often went unnoticed. She did, however, finish up giving up just 11 off the over, which was representative of the Netherlands' performance with the ball in hand. She stayed in the good-length area when she wasn't spraying down her leg. The Netherlands conceded 16 runs in extras overall.
Shafali started using the aerial path to increase the run rate. After making her tournament debut six years prior, she achieved her first 34-ball fifty at a T20 World Cup. In the 12th over, she mistimed a pull off Heather Siegers and holed out to long on, forcing her to leave against the flow of play.
India won, huge thanks to the careless Netherlands
The Netherlands had already amassed double-digit extras, but in the last four overs of the match, they missed three opportunities to allow India to reach an unbeatable total.
Shafali reached her fifty on the ball after being dropped at cover in the eleventh over. The Netherlands had made a mini-comeback, but more lost opportunities awaited them: at the conclusion of the 16th over, Caroline de Lange removed Mandhana, and at the beginning of the 17th over, van den Raad got Jemimah Rodrigues edging behind on the scoop.
India was now 162 for 3. When Richa Ghosh bunted an edge up in the air in the 17th, van den Raad appeared ready to put her extra problems behind her with a second wicket. But Phebe Molkonboer shelled the catch next to the stumps while sprinting in from further cover. The Netherlands lost out on a run-out opportunity at the non-striker's end of the same delivery because no fielder was supporting the stumps.
Two more drops followed: in the 18th over, Silver Siegers dropped Ghosh, causing the ball to break past her hands and reach four. Robine Rijke then dismissed Harmanpreet Kaur at mid-off in the last over. As India racked up 41 runs in the final three overs, Ghosh made the most of her second opportunity by scoring an undefeated 8-ball 20.
The spin stranglehold of India
The Netherlands' fearlessness with a bat in hand was unquestionable. Heather Siegers, the opener, scored 21 from 16 balls, including four fours. In a demonstration of strength and timing, she boshed drives into the 'V', even stepping deep into the offside at one point to Shafali in the fourth over, drawing her to long leg.
But to maintain a tight grip on the Netherlands batting lineup, India's spinners worked together to create a pitch that remained low and slow throughout the second innings. The other opener, Molkenboer, is frequently unable to time her shots beyond a crowded cover cordon while playing flawless drives of her own. She ultimately died on 15 off 20 in the eighth over, with the Netherlands just making it to a run per ball.
Unfortunately, an ankle injury ended one of India's spinners' days on the pitch. When Molkonboer timed an on-drive to Shreyanka Patil's right in the sixth over, she attempted to field the delivery but ultimately twisted her right ankle. She ultimately had to be carried off the field on a stretcher and did not participate in the game anymore.
The Netherlands is defeated
The Netherlands' hitters skipped down the track to assault India's bowlers even as the needed rate soared beyond the range of the feasible. Looking to loft Nandani Sharma down the ground, Captain Babette de Leede was stumped well from her ground. When Sterre Kalis swung across the incorrect line against Shafali, whose slow deliveries through the air continued to perplex the opposition, she too heard her stumps rattle.
After the midway point of their chase, the Netherlands' wickets continued to fall in the same manner. When batting against Shree Charani, Iris Zwilling was out looking for a slog sweep; Frederique Overdijk holed out to long-on, and Rijke was held lbw seeking an elaborate sweep, giving the Indian left-arm spinner a fourth wicket.
After losing their final five wickets for only one run over the course of nine deliveries, the Netherlands ultimately succumbed. When Isabel van der Woning attempted to swing down the ground, Shafali was the one with the ball in hand, fittingly with just one wicket remaining. Rodrigues completed a superb catch after running in from long-on to propel India to the top of their table.
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