 "Harmanpreet Kaur looks dejected during India's game against England. Image: ICC")
India versus England , Indore. A game that will not knock either out, but a match that could seal qualification for England, and plunge India’s into massive jeopardy. The contest has ebbed and flowed throughout, and after 38 overs in India’s chase, the equation reads: 71 needed off 72 balls. With seven wickets in hand.
Perhaps a tricky equation in women’s cricket a few years ago. But in this brave new world, where power-hitting has become the norm rather than the exception, and where chasing sides hardly baulk at run-rates that are less than run-a-ball, this should be routine.
India’s chase in control until it wasn’t
More so because Deepti Sharma, on the verge of putting together one of the all-time great all-rounder displays in Women’s World Cup cricket, is out there. Alongside Smriti Mandhana, who happens to have already tallied more than a thousand runs in this format in 2025, and is considered one of the premier batters on the planet.
Oh, and Mandhana has gotten herself to 85 off 86. Not quite the over-drive innings that has been a feature this year, but a knock compiled with the sort of calmness and confidence World Cups demand. She also seems to have an answer for every question England are posing, and has been particularly imperious when accessing the region behind point, which England, despite knowing what Mandhana is trying to do, have simply been unable to plug.
India have had the beating of England recently too, winning five of their previous six women’s ODIs, including winning a series away from home a few months ago. England have not been tested in this fashion at this World Cup defending a total either, and they are also up against a partisan and very pro-India crowd.
Then, from almost out of nowhere, that Indian position of strength morphs into something more jittery and nervier. India stumble. They stutter. And ultimately, they succumb. Perhaps to England’s tidiness. Possibly to pressure. Probably to the occasion. But a punch in the gut nevertheless, and a blow that will have, as much as India may want to hide it, knocked the stuffing out of them.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMandhana was the first to perish as India began messing things up. Linsey Smith was probably brought on to deliver a wicket and Mandhana, rather than reading that intention, tried to retort with a sign of domination herself. She attempted to loft Smith downtown but only picked out Alice Capsey on the fence.
Deepti, suddenly cast as the protagonist, did very well to get to her half-century. During that period, she was playing the situation perfectly and was finding the fence just when the required run-rate threatened to spiral. But when a left-arm spinner (Sophie Ecclestone this time) threw up an invitation outside off, Deepti, like Mandhana, could not resist.
A slog sweep is probably Deepti’s go-to shot, and if she tries that stroke ten times, chances are she will thump it away eight times. But those are percentages under ordinary circumstances. Not percentages when a World Cup campaign could be at stake. Or when a failure to execute the shot could lead to qualification chances hanging by a thread.
And so, it unraveled for Deepti too. A shank to deep mid-wicket, accepted gleefully by Sophia Dunkley, and India went from having two set batters in the middle to having none.
Between Deepti and Mandhana’s dismissals, India also lost Richa Ghosh, long earmarked as their finisher. And her dismissal, in the context of the game, was rather soft. A tame chip to extra cover, when all India needed was a bit more decisiveness in their stroke-play.
Run it back a little further, and India seemed comfortably placed when Harmanpreet Kaur was crunching the ball to all parts. The required run-rate may not have dipped below six then, but Harmanpreet and Mandhana were barely breaking into a sweat and yet, were making England perspire.
On each of those occasions, though, India failed to drive that advantage home. Deepti, Harmanpreet and Mandhana all left it to the next batter and that, in the end, is what cost India the game, and they will hope it does not end up costing them the World Cup too.
India should learn from the best
And that is primarily because teams that win the World Cup or go deep into tournaments, do not let such opportunities pass them by. Take Australia for example. It may not be the most pertinent example because they do things that are generally perceived as beyond possibility. But earlier at this World Cup, they were under severe strife against Pakistan.
Batting first, they were tottering at 76-7, and were staring down at an upset. Beth Mooney, though, hung around and she hung around until the very end, crafting a sumptuous hundred and ensuring that she saw the turnaround through.
Heather Knight, who starred against India with a century in Indore, also did something similar against Bangladesh, although that was in a chase. Knight may have ridden her luck on that evening in Guwahati, but she was there at the end, ensuring that there were no further hiccups.
India, in their three-game losing run, have seen the virtues of a batter/finisher actually finishing the game too. In Vishakhapatnam, Nadine de Klerk soaked up pressure, backed herself and stunned India. The first time felt so nice for de Klerk that she had to do it twice, repeating the same party trick against Bangladesh a few days later.
And that is probably the most difficult gig in cricket. A game is never won until the last run is scored, and while that may be stating the obvious and may seem straightforward enough, it is far from it. It is darn tough.
That is why finishers or batters who finish games are of immense value. Because the only time they get noticed is when they fail to get the job done. This will explain all the criticism and the chatter that will dominate the back pages over the next few days.
Semifinal qualification hangs in the balance
India lost and that, of course, is not a desirable outcome for them or their fans. But the manner in which they lost a game that they should have ideally sewn up with room to spare, is what will hurt them.
Sunday in Indore was a day for India to flex their muscles again, and show that they are every bit the pre-tournament favourites everyone said they were. Instead, it became another eventually cumbersome evening, where the only thing illustrated was that this team still struggles to win such crucial moments in pressure games.
Australia, England and South Africa, across different venues, conditions and circumstances, have proven that they have gotten a hang of it at this World Cup, and they are, unsurprisingly, already in the semi-finals. India are not.
And if they cannot rectify this, they probably will not be in it a week from now either.