DAY OF FAME:
The sun was shining brightly on Sunday, but it was Ekta Bisht who was the star of the day. We could witness yet another “Surgical Strike” as Indian women’s team crushed their arch rival nation Pakistan, thereby maintaining their clean chit records in ODIs. Winning the toss, Indian skipper, Mithali Raj decided to bat first. Things went pretty well for India as Poonam Raut inched towards her half-century, but fell short of the mark by 3 runs. Smriti Mandhana who had scored a century against West Indies couldn’t bring out the magic in this game. The equations turned around towards Pakistan after the dismissal of the skipper as wickets tumbled down quickly. Sushma Devi was the only middle order batsman to score quick runs contributing 33 runs off 35 balls. India managed to put up a meager total of 169 with the loss of 9 wickets off 50 overs.
This seemed as if Pakistan could wrap up with ease, but then stood Bisht stood like a barrier to their success. Picking up four wickets within the powerplay, India sensed that this could be their chance. Pakistan couldn’t cope up with the pressure building on with wickets falling and dot balls increasing. Nahida Khan looked vulnerable but fell the bouncer by Harmanpreet Kaur, ultimately going for a catch behind the stumps. With Bisht’s brilliant figures of 10-2-18-5 and contribution from every bowler, India could bowl out the whole Pakistan team for 74 in 38.1 overs and win by a huge margin of 95 runs.
India defended its lowest total against its rival nation. Women in blue continue their winning streak against Pakistan and maintain a clean chit of 10-0 head to head records in ODIs. India now leads the point table with 6 points from 3 matches and second highest net run rate of +1.110. None of the Asian countries have ever won a world cup. It is time for India to break this jinx and lift the world cup.
DAY OF SHAME:
We also witnessed another Indian match where “Men in Blue” took on the Windies boys on 4th ODI of . After restricting them to 189 for the loss of 9 wickets in 50 overs. With the Indian line up standing strong and considering their performance in this series, cricketing legends expected the match to end within 2nd powerplay. But, the host nation was not ready to give up so easily. Jason Holder, the Windies skipper’s five-wicket haul shook the Indian squad. Ajinkya Rahane could reach his half century, but couldn’t sustain till the end. MS Dhoni, perhaps known as the best finisher in the world couldn’t forecast his finishing skills. He consumed 70 dot balls in this innings which is the highest ever in his career. Despite his lethargic start, he couldn’t convert it to match winning innings. This match is yet another example where the middle failed to perform when the top order batsmen failed to start off with flying colors. The skipper, Virat Kohli could only manage a single figure score. This match was something completely contrary to the women’s match.Two matches, two different positions but two unexpected results. At one side Women in Blue” evaded their first loss against arch-rival Pakistan from a situation where they had been restricted well within 200. At the other side, the “Men in Blue” were sure shot of victory, let the match slip off their hands despite putting up a brilliant bowling performance.
POOR MEDIA ATTENTION
The girls of our nation made us proud on Sunday, yet there weren’t many channels which telecasted the live match when compared to the men’s world cup. It was very saddening to know that the capacity of Debry cricket ground has a capacity of 9,500 (where women’s match was held), whereas was almost every venue of the men’s world cup was held in ground which had at least a capacity of 20,000. It restricts the number of fans attending the match.
An achievement in sport is always to be appreciated irrespective of the gender. Media pays very less attention for the women’s matches. Fans support plays an important role in a game. If fans sitting in front of TV witness this fabulous match, then many of them could be present at the grounds, cheering for their nations. This will definitely boost their performance by leaps and bounds. Also, we don’t see many articles coming up for the women’s matches. We hope that the upcoming matches will be telecasted, not just the Indian matches but all the matches of Women’s World Cup.
