Tri-series: Familiar woes exposed by Australia, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co seek batting improvement

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will have to address their batting woes when they take on England in a crucial league match of the T20 international Tri-series in Melbourne on Friday.

A mid-innings slump led to India’s four-wicket defeat in their previous match against hosts Australia. This was after beating England by five wickets in the tournament-opener a couple of days earlier.

Against Australia, India were still in with a chance of posting a competitive total when Smriti Mandhana was dismissed for 35 in the 10th over, but a sensational batting collapse a few overs later put the match firmly in favour of the hosts.

Kaur (28), Veda Krishnamurthy (8), Taniya Bhatia (0), Deepti Sharma (0) and Arundhati Redddy (4) all got out in a span of 10 deliveries as India went from 78/3 at the start of the 14th over to 82/6 in 14.4 overs. They eventually finished with 103/9 in their 20 overs.

The biggest worry for captain Kaur, and coach WV Raman, is that such a batting collapse has become the norm rather than the exception for India.

The Indian batters, especially in the middle and lower order, will need to produce a much-improved show against England to brighten their chances of reaching the final.

“Our lower order definitely needs to bat a lot better, especially when the top-order doesn’t get runs. However, really appreciate the performance of bowlers,” Kaur said after the defeat against Australia.

Kaur, who has been the top run scorer for her side, will have to once again lead from the front while hoping that young Shafali Verma fires on top of the Indian innings. Jemimah Rodrigues is also due a big score at No 3.

But the issue for India is with what comes after the top four. The over-dependency on the top four has been repeatedly exposed in the recent past.

Except for opener Smriti Mandhana (35) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (28), Indian batters showed complete lack of application on a pitch offering extra bounce at Canberra. India lost their last six wickets for 21 runs to concede the innings with seven balls to spare.

The experienced Mandhana and Harmanpreet stitched a 40-run stand before the captain’s dismissal triggered a collapse.

Veda Krishnamurthy, long seen as the experienced head in the middle order, has not done enough to justify her repeated selection in the middle order. Cameos alone won’t do from a player of her caliber and, as she showed against Australia with a rash slog, she has the tendency to play a shot completely unwarranted by the situation of the game.

Taniya Bhatia continues to remain an enigma with the bat. It is incredible to think India thought of her as an option to open the innings in the last World T20, in place of Mithali Raj. She has scored a grand total of 29 runs in the last 8 innings she has batted in the lower-middle order at a shocking average of 4.14. Her sequence of scores in T20Is (all batting positions) read: 11, 2, 9, 5, 5, 5, 46, 3, 1*, 1.

Deepti Sharma continues to remain a crucial cog in the spinning wheel for India but she has not lived up to her potential with the bat. While her batting performances in the KIA Super League last season gave hope, it has not reflected in international cricket.

As was also evident in the match against Australia, the Indian bowling attack is capable of keeping the strongest of bowling lineups quiet. Led by the spinners once again, the Indian bowlers did all they could even while defending such a low score, stretching the game till the penultimate over but there were not enough runs on the board.

That the batters were not able to steady themselves and get to a par score with some sensible batting will have worried Kaur and Raman.

It will be interesting to see if India’s ace spinner Poonam Yadav is fit enough to feature although the trio of Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav are more than capable of holding fort for Kaur in the leg-spinner’s absence. Poonam has not featured in the series yet due to a reported hand injury.

For England, spinner Sophie Ecclestone will be the key again with the ball. Her rise in the T20 format has been phenomenal in the past year and she starred with a superb Super Over performance against Australia in Canberra. With the bat, captain Heather Knight has been in scintillating form. She has scored back-to-back half centuries in the tournament so far, and did the job in the Super Over as well.

The tournament, which is an important preparatory event ahead of the T20 World Cup beginning in Australia on February 21, is intriguingly poised with all the three teams on two points from as many matches after one win and one defeat each.

The squads:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Veda Krishnamurthy, Taniya Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Arundhati Reddy, Harleen Deol, Nuzhat Parween, Poonam Yadav.

England: Heather Knight (capt), Amy Ellen Jones (wk), Danielle Wyatt, Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Katherine Brunt, Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Winfield, Freya Davies, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Anya Shrubsole, Georgia Elwiss, Kate Cross, Mady Villiers.

Match Starts at 8:40am IST.