Sports zone #2 Women’s cricket world cup

      Eleventh edition of women’s cricket world cup is going to be held from 24 June- 23 July in England.Women’s world cup was held in 1973 for the first time in which England emerged as winners. Then after Australia has dominated the women’s cricket winning the world cup for six times. 

Both Australia and england have shared 9 world cups out of 10 and the only other team to win the world cup was New zealand on 2000. 

Australia – 1978, 1982, 1997, 2005,2013.

England- 1973, 1993, 2009

New Zealand -2000

Eight teams competing for 2017 world cup are Australia, England, New zealand, South Africa, India, west Indies, pakistan and sri lanka.

       Six time champions Australia are favourites to win the world cup. They perform well in all departments of the game batting, bowling and fielding. Winning has now become a habit for Australians. The defending champions is a team to beat in this world cup for other teams.
     

      England are the tough contendors and they also have an added advantange of playing on their home ground. They won both the world cups on 1973 and 1993 on their home ground.

       India had performed exceedingly well in the ODI format in recent times and aiming for their first world cup win under the captaincy of experienced Mithali Raj. 

        New Zealand is one of the favourites in this world cup having huge talent in their side. 

West Indies, finalists of 2013 world cup and defending 20- 20 world cup champions have strong hitters in their side but yet to prove their point on ODI format.
      South Africa is a good side capable of giving tough fight for strong teams. 

       Pakistan and Srilanka have not yet proved themselves against the bigger teams and will have to fight hard to reach semi finals. But they can pull off any match and upset the strong teams. 

This world cup is the most competitive world cup in women’s cricket. 

   Let’s have a look at the squad of the Indian side and their strength.

      With a strong batting line India has a very good chance of winning the world cup. But they will have to give their combined team effort to beat teams like Australia and England.

1. Mithali Raj – captain

     Mithali Raj,the pillar of Indian team is ranked 2nd in ODI rankings. She is being consitenly performing well over the years and only the second player to cross 5000 runs in ODI’s. She had played 5 world cups so far and leading her young team in high hopes of winning the worldcup this time.

2.Harmanpreet kaur– vice captain

     Harmanpreer kaur is the key player and a match winner for the team India. She is a stylish player of Indian team and cricket fans can expect some classy shots from her.She clears the boundary ropes with ease whenever the team needs.
 She helped India win world cup qualifiers against south Africa. It was a thrilling last ball win with one wicket remaining, hitting a six and two runs in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s style.

3. Jhulan Goswami

     Jhulan Goswami is a senior bowler  leading the Indian bowling side and bowls regularly at an incredible speed of more than 120 kph .she is the highest wicket taker in ODI’s with 185 wickets. 

4. Smriti Mandhana

   

    Smriti Mandana is a young talent who is capable of scoring against tough teams. It’s a treat to watch this left hander when she gets going. She was the only Indian player to be named in the Icc women’s team of the year 2016.

5.Deepti sharma

   At the age of 19, Deepti sharma has scored the second highest individual score in ODI’s 188 runs against Ireland this year.

6.Veda krishnamurthy

    Veda krishnamurthy plays crucial knocks in the middle order. She scores runs in boundaries with a good strike rate.

7.Poonam Raut

   Poonam Raut is a opening batsman adding strength to the Indian top order batting.  Her 320 run partnership with Deepti Sharma against Ireland in world cup qualifiers is the highest partnership in ODI’s.

8.Ekta Bisht

Ekta Bisht leads India’s spin department. She is a slow left arm orthodox bowler who can be a threat to the batsman.
9.Shika pandey

     Shika pandey is a medium pacer and also comes handy in batting when the team requires.

10.Sushma verma- wicket keeper

Sushma verma is the wicket keeper of the Indian team who does her job without any compromise.

11.Rajeshwari gayaknad  

 

    Rajeshwari gayaknad is a slow left arm orthodox bowler. 

12.Mona meshram

     Mona meshram is another young talent who keeps the score board moving.

13.Poonam yadav
      Poonam Yadav is another spin option for Mithali raj.  She is a right arm leg break bowler.

   14.Mansi Joshi                                                 Mansi Joshi is one among the three pacers of Indian team. She has only played 6 matches and got 4 wickets under her name.This tournament is a huge opportunity for her if she gets a chance to play.

15.Nuzhak Parween.

    She had played only one match for India in which she did not bat.
Key players from other teams

1.Australia 

Meg lanning ( captain)  tops the ODI batting rankings.

Elyse perry

  Elyse perry is one of the finest all rounders in women’s cricket. 

2.England 

Sarah Taylor 

     The comeback of this wicket keeper batsman to the team is a huge plus for the England. She is a bundle of talent and plays her natural game with ease.

Nat sciver

  This all rounder of England team is currently enjoying her form in both bowling and batting. It seems impossible to stop her once she settles in.

3.South Africa

Marizanne kapp  is the number one bowler in ODI rankings. 

4.West indies

Deandra Dottin is the all rounder of West Indies team. she became the first woman to score hundred in 20-20 internationals.

Stafanie taylor

    Stafanie taylor(captain) is the number one all rounder in the ODI rankings.

5.New zealand

Suzie bates( captain) 

    New zealand captain Suzie bates is the star batsman for her team.

Amy satterthwhaite

   She became the first player to score four consecutive hundreds. She is a right arm medium pacer.

6.Sri lanka

Shashikala siriwardana

This off spinner has taken 106 wickets so far and is equally good with the bat.

7. Pakistan
  Sana Mir(captain)

Sana Mir is the best player of the pakistan team and currently ranked 8th in ODI bowling.

      

On the opening day of the tournament,India is playing against England on 24th of June.Telecast – star sports. New zealand takes on sri lanka on the same day.

   Ten matches out of 31 matches will be telecasted on star sports and the rest 21 matches will be live streamed online on Hotstar.