Discover how India Women’s lower order has become the backbone of their WWC 2025 campaign, pulling off stunning rescue acts match after match.
India Women are approaching the halfway mark of the Women’s World Cup 2025 campaign. But their batting performance, especially for the top order, hasn’t lived up to the mark yet. That’s where the lower order has stepped up to score the bulk of the runs in this tournament. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side hasn’t shown the same magical batting they displayed in the lead-up to the competition.
In comparison to the other seven teams in this World Cup 2025, India’s lower order (8-11) has enjoyed the best average of 36.57. They smashed 256 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 125.49 with two half-centuries. In this process, they have also cracked 29 boundaries and nine sixes.
India’s lower order coming to rescue their poor top five
Compared to the other seven sides at the World Cup, the Blue Brigade’s top five averages 23.13. This stands in fifth position on the table, lower than all the serious semi-final contenders of the event. Among teams that have played at least two fixtures in this tournament, India are the only side without a 50+ score from their top five. In terms of strike rate, they are third from the bottom.
In their opening game against Sri Lanka, they lost their first six wickets for 124 runs in 27 overs. At one point, they were 120/2 in 25 overs before losing four wickets for four runs in 12 legal deliveries. But they still ended up with 269 on the board. Their lower-order batters added 85 runs, which is a 37.17 pc contribution to the entire score.
Against Pakistan, on a slow R Premadasa surface, it was nearly the same situation when they were struggling for 201/6 in 44.2 overs. Richa Ghosh, at number eight, smashed an unbeaten knock of 35 runs in 20 balls to power them to 247. That provided them the chance to end with a respectable score.
In their previous contest against South Africa, they were strolling at 102/6 in 26 overs. However, Sneh Rana and Ghosh shared a fine 88-run stand for the eighth wicket to shoulder them to 251. India’s lower order added over 60 pc of the runs.
Their star-studded top five hasn’t been in rhythm, and they required a lower-order rescue in all three encounters. They managed to recover well to earn victory in the first two matches. But that didn’t repeat in the third game against their toughest opponent of the campaign so far, South Africa.
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Clear mindset and steady planning- India’s lower order’s cheat code
Ghosh is currently India’s leading run-getter of the campaign with 131 runs at a strike rate of 127.18. She got support from different lower-order batters in this competition. Against the Proteas, Rana stood at the other end for her 33 runs in 24 balls with six boundaries. Against Sri Lanka, Amanjot Kaur celebrated 57 runs in 56 balls, thanks to her five boundaries and one six.
All of them have a clear mindset from the start of their innings. Despite being under pressure, they have rotated the strike well, besides playing the balls to their merit. There haven’t been many aerial shots from their bat, while they always tried to stay till the end. This has automatically put pressure on the opponents.
In the case of the top five, there are different concerns. Smriti Mandhana, despite her rich ODI form in 2025, has made only 8, 23, and 23 so far. Jemimah Rodrigues has found success at number five in the last couple of years. However, she hasn’t come to the party yet in this competition. To be fair, her first delivery of the event was a dream ball from Sri Lanka’s Inoka Ranaweera. She has been dismissed by the left-arm spinners in all three clashes.
India’s captain didn’t have a magical year so far. She contributed a cameo knock in the curtain raiser before struggling for rhythm against Pakistan. Harmanpreet got stuck totally against the Proteas, crawling to nine runs off 23 balls as he mistimed the ball to the point fielder.
Most of them seemed to be in a rush even after the completion of the first 10 overs. In general, they can look to rotate the strike in the middle overs along with a few odd boundaries. This is where the lower order has done well. They have attacked the weakest bowlers of the opposition, besides taking the game deep.
When the lower-order remains in form, it becomes easier for the top five to play freely. But now, post the previous defeat, the onus is on Mandhana, Harmanpreet, and Rodrigues to ensure they provide a strong platform to Ghosh and Amanjot. Their race to the final will heat up in their next two consecutive tough games against Australia and England in a span of one week.
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