It’s a match not many in the Indian team have played before. In fact, only skipper Mithali Raj and pacer Jhulan Goswami have been part of the Indian team that last played a World Cup final way back in 2005.
The two will reprise their roles again on Sunday as they, along with their current team-mates, square-off against England in the title clash at Lord’s.
The duo, though, will do well to remember the lessons learnt from the one-sided encounter played 12 years ago at the Centurion in South Africa.
Then, India were humbled by 98 runs. In the lead up to the final, though, they had looked robust and finished on second spot in the group stage.
Their opening tie against Sri Lanka was washed out
Group Stage: Round 1: Sri Lanka 116 (Shashikala Siriwardene 29; Neetu David 3/17) vs India 4/0) - No Result.
Left-arm spinner Neetu David had picked up three wickets to help skittle out the opposition for just 116, however, the rain gods played spoilsport and robbed India a chance to begin their campaign on a winning note.
India registered first win of campaign against Ireland
Group Stage: Round 2: Ireland 65 (Miriam Grealey 38; Amita Sharma 3/12) lost to India 68/1 (Anju Jain 32*) by 9 wickets.
After the disappointment of the opener, India came back strongly in the second game with a convincing nine-wicket win over Ireland. Medium-pacer Amita Sharma was the star for India. She picked up three wickets as Ireland were bundled out for just 65. In reply, India’s batters hardly broke a sweat as they chased down the modest total with the loss of just one wicket.
They made it two wins in a row with victory over hosts
Group Stage: Round 3: South Africa 80 (Johmari Logtenberg 26; Deepa Marathe 4/1) lost to India 81/6 (Rumeli Dhar 33*; Alicia Smith 4/19) by 4 wickets.
India continued their fine form by outplaying hosts South Africa in their third round clash. Fielding first, India ran through the South African batting thanks to an inspired spell by left-arm spinner Deepa Marathe who finished with astounding figures of 4/1. South Africa were bowled out for just 80 runs. The target, though, proved tricky for India as the top order struggled against the fine effort of Alicia Smith (4/19). All-rounder Rumeli Dhar’s unbeaten 33 proved enough to take India across the line with four wickets to spare.
India made it three in a row with win over England
Group Stage: Round 4: England 139 (Charlotte Edwards 58; Jhulan Goswami 4/27) lost to India 141/3 (Anjum Chopra 64) by 7 wickets.
The team’s star pace bowler Jhulan Goswami produced a remarkable spell that knocked the wind out of the English batting line-up. The tall fast bowler picked up four wickets to help restrict the opposition to 139. Later, left-handed batter Anjum Chopra’s patient 64-run knock saw India complete a hat-trick of victories.
India handed reality check by New Zealand
Group Stage: Round 5: New Zealand 184/9 (Sara McGlasha 57; Neetu David 5/32) beat India 168/9 (Mithali Raj 52; Louise Milliken 5/25) by 16 runs.
Raj & Co were handed their first defeat of the campaign by New Zealand. Neetu David’s five-wicket haul went in vain as New Zealand posted a competitive target of 185. In reply, India fell 16 runs short as Kiwi pacer Louise Milliken picked up five wickets of her own to peg India back. Raj played her part with a gritty half-century, but ran out of partners.
India got back to winning ways by edging West Indies
Group Stage: Round 6: West Indies 135 (Pamela Lavine 43; Jhulan Goswami 4/16) lost to India 139/2 (Anju Jain 68; Verena Felicien 2/31) by 8 wickets.
Jhulan Goswami was back at her fiery best. She picked up four wickets to restrict West Indies to 135. In reply, the batters, led by opener Anju Jain (68) took India home with eight wickets to spare.
India-Australia clash abandoned
Group Stage: Round 7: India vs Australia - Match Abandoned.
Rain played spoilsport again as clash between the group-stage’s top two teams was abandoned without a ball being bowled. India, though, finished the group stage on second spot with 30 points behind leaders Australia who had 35 points to their credit.
India exact revenge over New Zealand in semi-final
Semi-final: India 204/6 (Mithali Raj 91*; Rachel Pullar 4/39) beat New Zealand 164 (Maria Fahey 73; Amita Sharma 3/24) by 40 runs.
Skipper Mithali Raj led from the front as India made amends for their group-stage defeat to New Zealand with an emphatic 40-run victory. Batting first for the first time in the tournament, India were propped up by Raj, who smashed an unbeaten 91 to help India post a daunting total of 204/6. The Kiwi batters failed to muster up much of a challenge and were bowled out for 164. Amita Sharma was India’s standout bowler with figures of 3/24.
India found Australia too tough to beat in the final
Final: Australia 215/4 (Karen Rolton 107*, Lisa Sthalekar 55) beat India 117 (Anju Jain 29; Shelley Nitschke 2/14) by 98 runs.
After winning the toss, Australia chose to bat first. They clobbered India’s bowlers through Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar. While the former notched up an unbeaten 107, the latter impressed with a half-century. The duo’s effort saw Australia set India a target of 216 to chase. India never looked settled in their chase and kept losing wickets regularly. Only four batter managed to take their score into double digits with Anju Jain top-scoring with 29. As many as four batters were run-out. India’s innings eventually folded for 117 as Australia romped home to 98-run win to clinch their fifth World Cup title.
