Coming to the back end of the group stages, Group B could possibly see India joining Australia as the two to advance to the semifinal of the women’s T20 World Cup when they play Ireland at Providence today.
History will be made as it is the first time these two sides will face each other in the format and so far, India has had a good showing in the Women’s World T20 tournament, sealing two wins in as many matches, compared to their opposition who remain winless in the same amount of matches.
The vastly different results for the two sides in the International Cricket Council tournament can be readily underlined by their team choices, the Asian side has been fixed and settled while the Irish team has chopped and changed their XI.
The Indian captain, Harmanpreet Kaur has led from the front with the lone century of the tournament so far and opener, Mithali Raj and number three batter, Jemiamah Rodrigues have been in good form.
On the other hand, Ireland has altered their batting line up to strengthen their bowling department which saw Gaby Lewis promoted. However, the young side has not gotten the explosive start they would have liked as expressed by their captain, Laura Delany and Clare Shillington, their most capped player has not found form.
The same can be said about the entire batting line up that seems imposing on paper with the likes of Isobel Joyce and Kim Garth. Shillington is 16 runs short of becoming the first Irish woman to 1000 runs in this format.
The fielding has been pretty much equal for both sides but will need to tighten up should they continue to press for their maiden title. India’s ability to run quick singles and capitalize in the field has given them the edge over other teams.
In the bowling department, India’s frontline bowlers have stuck to their plans with their spinners having the benefit of the wicket turning as well as the luxury of playing the first match on the surface.
Spin twins, Dayalan Hemalatha with her off break and Poonam Yadav with her leg break have led from the front with 10 wickets collectively from the 16 India has taken in the tournament so far compared to the seven taken by Ireland.
The two sides will create history at 4 pm today.
