Can India level up the series against England?

Maithilee Shetty

06 Mar 2019

New Update

Harmanpreet-less India take on Taylor-powered England in series opener — Danielle Wyatt of England batting with Taniya Bhatia of India keeping. ©ICC

Preview: India vs England - 2nd T20I

Date: 7 March 2019

Venue: Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati

England on the back off an all-round performance had the Indian side toppled in their last match to claim a 1-0 lead in the T20I series. India will look to level the series and give a chance to redeem themselves.

Although the side is comparatively new, they intend to win and that will be the difference in the next T20I. Indian captain Smriti Mandhana told, “It’s a really exciting team and it’s important that we believe that we are going into the series to win the series and not the sake of experimenting. The first goal is to win the series and then is to find new faces for the world cup.”

Key Players:

Bowlers:

Komal Zanzad (India): Yet to make her debut, Zanzad has been impressive in the Board President’s XI in her first spell with the wickets of the famed trio of Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Taylor and Natalie Sciver. This left-arm medium pacer has also had an impressive domestic season which landed her a place in the BP’s XI. She had taken 9 for 8 for Vidarbha against Haryana. It is the best-recorded figures in Women’s List A cricket. It would be interesting to see Zanzad in the Indian mix alongside the in-form Shikha Pandey and Poonam Yadav.

Linsey Smith (England): After a spectacular performance against India in the first T20I where she picked up Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues in consecutive deliveries, Smith would like to continue the same efforts. Her teammate Tammy Beaumont praised her, “She has come back in, the first game of the tour and first ball pretty much get a wicket and not just any wicket but that of Smriti Mandhana, who was going to be the key batter in that chase. She bowled to her plan, and she is really good. She is a really great character to have around. So, it’s great to have her doing well.”

Batters:

Smriti Mandhana (India): With the strike rate of 117.39, this stylish left-handed batter has been a match-winner for her team. She has 1228 runs to her name, now repositioned as the captain of the team for T20I and will have a crucial role to play.

Nat Sciver (England): Sciver has 953 runs as well as 45 wickets in her span of 56 matches with 110.42 strike rate as the batter. This allrounder had been the leading run-getter for England in recent ODI series. She is an explosive batter and her side will hope for her to return in-form for the T20I series.

Who Said What

“If you look at the number of matches they have played, it’s six to eight. I don’t think it is the right time to experiment. We will have to stick with the same batting order to look forward to, giving them more game time for them to prove.” - Smriti Mandhana

“It’s amazing to play in front of such a big crowd. They were supporting India, but they were also supporting good cricket and great to see so many people coming." - Tammy Beaumont

Probable XI:

India: Smriti Mandhana (c), Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Komal Zanzad, Poonam Yadav

England: Tammy Beaumont, Danni Wyatt, Amy Jones (wk), Natalie Sciver, Heather Knight (c), Sophia Dunkley, Kate Cross, Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Linsey Smith, Alex Hartley

Mithali Raj Smriti Mandhana Heather Knight Lauren Winfield Amy Jones Natalie Sciver Jemimah Rodrigues Danni Wyatt Shikha Pandey kate cross Linsey Smith Harleen Deol Komal Zanzad