ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023, Group 2, India vs Ireland: Smriti Mandhana's 87, Laura Delany 3-33, Gaby Lewis’s 32* are top performances. India Women beat Ireland Women by 5 runs according to the DLS method after the match was stopped due to rain; India are through to the semi-finals
Brief Scores: India 155-6 (Smriti Mandhana 87, Shafali Verma 24, Laura Delany 3-33) beat Ireland 54-2 (Gaby Lewis 32*, Laura Delany 17*, Renuka Thakur 1-10) by 5 runs (DLS method)
Player of the Match: Smriti Mandhana - 87(56)
India Women beat Ireland Women by 5 runs ((DLS method) in their fourth and last group match in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on February 20.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between India Women and Ireland Women in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.
Smriti Mandhana’s power-hitting comes to the fore
Smriti Mandhana played an impressive innings of 87 runs in 56 balls, which is also her career’s highest T20I score. This innings became a life saviour for the team on this slow pitch, where everyone was struggling with the high-speed wind. Mandhana kept her momentum going, and played some power-hitting shots, which didn’t only help India in registering a big total of 155 runs but also sealed a semi-final spot. In this innings, she hit nine fours and three sixes with a strike rate of more than 155, much better than her strike rate of around 123.
Even against England, Mandhana scored a half-century (52 off 41 balls) but that innings went in vain as the middle order batters other than Richa Ghosh didn’t do much and fell cheaply against England’s bowling line up. India will most probably play against Australia in the semi-finals; in this scenario, Smriti Mandhana’s form is a big blessing and she needs to show up and take up responsibility on her shoulders to take India through to the finals.
Read More: T20 WC 2023, IND-W v ENG-W: Slow run rate causes heartbreak for India despite Renuka's 5-15
Laura Delany’s pace troubles India
Ireland all-rounder Laura Delany's bowling spell left India’s batting lineup baffled with her pace and length. She sent the three of the top four Indian batters to the pavilion. Delany managed to frustrate India’s batters with her line and length coupled with pace, which forced them to go for big shots, eventually to get caught by a fielder.
Delany gave Ireland their first break in the form of Shafali Verma, who was struggling to get her rhythm.
She bowled full on leg as Verma looked to go big towards deep square leg, but there was no power on the shot and the ball landed straight into the hands of Hunter.
Harmanpreet Kaur who was playing her 150th T20I match was also sent on 13 runs in 20 balls, failed to even score a boundary, and was caught while trying to go for a big shot against the wind. Delany’s third victim was Richa Ghosh who lost her wicket for the first time in the tournament.
Read More: T20 WC 2023, IND-W v WI-W: Clinical bowling helps Ind win; Deepti 1st Indian to take 100 T20I wkts
Gaby Lewis’s fearless innings
Ireland opener Gaby Lewis took charge of Ireland’s batting in her hands. Gaby kept on playing massive strokes and kept scoring persistently with the support of Laura Delany from the other side. She scored 32 runs in 25 balls which consisted of 5 fours and her strike rate was around 128. If rain had not interrupted play, she could have taken the team to victory. But bad luck struck and her effort went in vain as India were declared winners by 5 runs via the DLS method.
Statistical Highlights
3000 – 3000 T20I runs for Harmanpreet Kaur, the first Indian woman and fourth woman overall to score 3000 runs in T20Is.
150 - Harmanpreet Kaur becomes the first player - male or female - to appear in 150 T20I matches.
Points Table Scenario & What’s Next
India Women are placed second in the points table with 6 points from 4 games and a net run rate (NRR) of 0.253. England lead the table with 6 points and an NRR of 1.776. Both teams are through to the semi-final.
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