The Indian women's cricket team will have to follow this tagline in letter and spirit when it takes the field for its next set of matches in the competition as it gets into the most crucial phase of its World Cup campaign.
Hammered into defeat against South Africa by a sensational knock by Nadine de Klerk, Harmanpreet Kaur's team faces successive inquest by fire when it takes on defending champions Australia in a crucial match of the 2025 ICC Women's ODI World Cup on Sunday with a lot depending on the outcome of this clash.
This will be followed by key clashes with former champions England and New Zealand, who along with Australia, India and South Africa are in contention for four spots in the semifinals. With Australia and England expected to take two of those spots, India will have to score some upset wins of they have to advance to the knockout stage. The Indian team will have to show determination and the will to win in conscious amounts on Sunday and the next set of matches or the hosts may end up missing their own party.
India came into this prestigious tournament as the second favourite behind Australia and started on a confident note their campaign to claim their maiden ICC title in women's cricket.
They started with wins against co-hosts Sri Lanka and Pakistan in their first two matches. They then suffered defeat against South Africa despite recovering from a precarious 102/6 to post 251 thanks to Richa Ghosh's brilliant 77-ball 94 and a 33-run cameo by Sneh Rana.
The hosts then reduced South Africa to 142/6 but could not press home the advantage as de Klerk blazed to an unbeaten 84 and with help from Chloe Tryon (49) took South Africa to 252/7 for a three wickets win with seven balls to spare. India now have four points from three matches and are placed third in the standings. Saturday's clash with Australia will further change their position in the standings.
The defeat against South Africa exposed chinks in the Indian team's armour like the misfiring top order, limited pace resources and ineffective bowling in the death overs. Some of these shortcomings have been carried forward from the pre-World Cup ODI series with Australia in which India conceded a mammoth 412 in the third ODI.
The top-order contributed handsomely in that series with Smriti Mandhana in great form. She scored the most runs in that series with two hundred and one fifty. Pratika Rawal scored a half-century in the first ODI as did Harleen Deol. But Mandhana has failed to make a significant contribution in three matches in the World Cup so far while Pratika managed to score 37 apiece against Sri Lanka in the opener and in the last match against South Africa. Harleen did marginally better with a vital contribution in the first match.
Top batters Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues are due a big one. Jemimah has scored 0, 32, 0 in three matches so far. The batters have shown vulnerability against left-arm spinners and had a high percentage of dot balls in all three matches, especially in the middle overs, going for 50-60 balls without scoring a boundary.
On the bowling front, the spinners have done well in the first two matches, the bowlers lost the plot against South Africa when Tryon and de Klerk got going.
The Indians may consider augumenting the bowling department by bringing in pacer Renuka Singh as the policy of playing five-specialist bowlers leaves them with limited options.
Against the mighty Aussies, the Indian team will have to pull up its socks and do well. They have recently defeated the reigning World Champions in the second ODI of the recent series. I dia will have to bring back the spirit of that match on Sunday. Bat and bowl well and exploit the conditions.
Australia are currently leading the points table with five points from three matches after their clash with Sri Lanka in Colombo was abandoned due to rain.
They had started with a comprehensive victory over neighbours New Zealand and were in trouble in their third game against Pakistan, reduced to 77/6 in the 27th over. Beth Money struck a fighting century (109 off 117) and with help from No. 9 batter Alana King (51) took Australia to a respectable 221/9. Their bowlers then got into the act and with Kim Garth leading with 3-14 and Megan Schutt (2-25) and Annabel Sutherland (2-15) bowled out Pakistan for 114 and guided Australia to a comprehensive 107-run victory.
The thumping win brought forth the strengths of the Australian team but also resilience of their players who did not lose heart after losing seven wickets.
But the Aussies do have issues to tackle. They have endured collapses in both of their completed games, finding themselves in trouble after promising starts, something they will look to avoid against India. Considering India’s struggles against left-arm spin, having lost 12 wickets in three matches, the Australian management may be tempted to recall Sophie Molineux after her impressive three-wicket haul against New Zealand.
It will be a tough test for the Indian team but it can take heart from their recent win over Australia to build confidence.
The head-to-head record is in favour of the Aussies, who have won 48 of their 59 matches while India have won 11. Since the 2017 World Cup, India have won only two of their 16 matches against
The pitch for Sunday's crucial encounter at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium is expected to be slow and a bit difficult to bat. There will be lot of support for the spinners but batters applying themselves will thrive. Batting will be a bit easier in the second half of the innings and the pacers are likely to be quite susceptible to facing violent attacks in death overs.
Probable playing XIs:
The pitch for Sunday's crucial encounter at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium is expected to be slow and a bit difficult to bat. There will be lot of support for the spinners but batters applying themselves will thrive. Batting will be a bit easier in the second half of the innings and the pacers are likely to be quite susceptible to facing violent attacks in death overs.
Also Read: LIVE Cricket ScoreAustralia: Alyssa Healy (c wk), Phoebe Litchfield , Elyse Perry, Beth Money, Annabel Sutherland. Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Alana King, Megan Schutt
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