India defeated England by eight wickets to record a consolation win in the women's T20 tri-series
Cirkus is boring and puerile, notes Sukanya Verma.
India have been doing well in the 50-over format but they have plenty to ponder about in the shortest form, having lost their previous series in New Zealand 0-3.
The Indian women's cricket team took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka with a six-wicket win in the second match here on Wednesday. Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka could manage only 178 for nine in the allotted 50 overs at the JSCA International Stadium Complex. 18-year-old Deepti Sharma was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up four for 23 with her medium pace bowling, to set up the home side's win. Skipper Mithali Raj then remained unbeaten on 53 to guide her team home with as many as 41 balls to spare. India were 179 for four in 43.1 overs when the winning run was scored. Raj, who struck four boundaries in her 80-ball knock, was supported by opener Smriti Mandhana (46), who narrowly missed out on her fourth successive fifty-plus score, and Harmanpreet Kaur (41). Mandhana hit four boundaries and a six in her run-a-ball innings, while Kaur found the fence six times while facing 61 balls.
The summit clash turned out to be a low-scoring affair and it was not the best advert for women's cricket with strokeplay proving to be extremely difficult on a slow surface.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who did not get to do much in ODIs in which Mithali Raj was captain, will lead the T20 side.
The Supernovas, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, have been invincible so far winning all the previous two editions.
The South African women's team's top-order fired in unison and helped their team clinch the five-match series against India with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in the fourth ODI, in Lucknow, on Sunday.
The T20 Challenge, to be played during the IPL play-offs, will begin with last year's finalist Supernovas taking on Velocity in the opening game.
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Teenage Indian batting sensation Shafali Verma on Wednesday rose to the top spot in the ICC women's T20 International rankings, riding on her stellar run at the T20 World Cup in Australia. The 16-year-old Verma takes over from New Zealand's Suzie Bates, who had been the top batter since October 2018 after wresting the spot from West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor.
India suffered 18-run defeat to hosts New Zealand
All that's transpired on and off the cricket pitch on Wednesday.
India's stunning win over defending champions Australia proves how competitive the women's T20 World Cup is going to be, says former India Test and ODI captain Mithali Raj.
Riding on Mithali Raj's record century, India 'A' defeated their Australian counterparts by 28 runs to take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Indian women's cricket team will be eager to pile further misery on South Africa
When the two sides met in the inaugural edition of the ICC Women's Championship in Bengaluru in November 2014, South Africa had won the series 2-1.
England will meet Australia in the final after the Southern Stars demolished hosts and last edition's winners West Indies by 71 runs.
Anuja Patil produced a cameo with the bat to lift the team to 130 and then took three wickets to guide India Women to a 34-run win over Sri Lanka Women in the first Twenty20 International on Monday. With this victory, India Women have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series. Opting to bat, India Women posted 130 for six and then managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 96 for seven in 20 overs. Indian eves did not have an ideal start as they lost skipper Mithali Raj (3) and V R Vanitha (12) early to be reeling at 15 for 2 in four overs. But responsible batting by Smriti Mandhana (35) and Harmanpreet Kaur (36) put India back on track. Anuja provided the final flourish after coming in to bat at No.6. She hit three fours during her 22 that came off 17 balls. Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. She accounted for the top three and ended with figures of three for 28. Chasing a modest target, Sri Lanka lost opener Yasoda Mendis for eight with Anuja striking in the very first over. In her second over, Anuja returned to dismiss the other opener Chamari Atapattu for a duck to reduce the visitors to 13 for two.
India also earned two additional points as the match is a part of the ICC Women's Championship.
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Pacers Shikha Pandey and Jhulan Goswami snapped four wickets each while Smriti Mandhana hit a half-century as India outclassed England by seven wickets in the second ODI to seal the three-match series.
Indian batting is prone to collapses, especially from a position of strength. Chasing 160, India were going strong at 102 for 1 but Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues's dismissals proved fatal for the visitors who collapsed to 136 all out, bringing back memories of their inexplicable surrender in the 2017 50-over World Cup final against England.
Former India coach Anil Kumble is in the running for the Coach of the Year award in the inaugural edition of the Indian Sports Honours, instituted by the RP-SG Group in association with the foundation of skipper Virat Kohli.
India's semi-final hopes suffered a major jolt after Australia notched up a comfortable eight-wicket win, riding on a superb show by their top-order batswomen in the ICC Women's World Cup in Bristol on Wednesday.
This year a whopping 74 winners were picked for the national honours, including an unprecedented five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratnas and 27 Arjuna awardees.
India have four wins in five games but, unfortunately for a team high on potential, it haven't looked like they have identified the brand of cricket that consistently works for it.
Wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy smashed her way to a brilliant 133 off 115 balls with the Southern Stars piling up a massive 332 for 7.
Rodrigues, Kaur, Mandhana and Sharma were also a part of the now-defunct Kia Super League (KSL) in 2019, the ECB's domestic T20 tournament that made way for the Women's Hundred.
Defending champions Australia crushed India by 85 runs in the final to win their record fifth ICC Women's T20 World Cup title, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Sunday. Opting to bat, Australia rode on blistering half-centuries by openers Alyssa Healy (75) and Beth Mooney (78 not out) to post a huge 184 for four before their bowlers, led by Megan Schutt (4/18) and Jess Jonassen (3/20) sent India crashing for a lowly 99 in 19.1 overs.
Australia's captain Meg Lanning says her team is going into the Wt20 final against India not just to put on a good show, but win it.
IMAGES from the first ODI played between New Zealand and India at Napier
Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney struck the highest scores in ICC Women's T20 World Cup final history as record-breaking Australia secured a famous fifth title on home soil, in Melbourne, on Sunday. A record-breaking attendance for a women's cricket match of 86,174 watched on as Australia downed first-time finalists India by 85 runs at the MCG, with the openers setting the tone for a clinical performance.
The much-hyped women's exhibition IPL T20 match between Supernovas vs Trailblazers witnessed an exciting finish but failed to attract sizeable crowd at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium on a sultry Tuesday afternoon despite the presence of the world's top women cricketers.
India will face their biggest challenge so far in the ICC Women's World T20 when they lock horns with a gifted Australian team in an inconsequential game, in Guyana, on Saturday.
This was due to the fact that they had already won the Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour.
The India captain will become the first Indian cricketer to be bestowed with the honour on three occasions.
Smriti Mandhana hit an unbeaten century to power India to an emphatic seven-wicket victory against West Indies, in the ICC Women's 50-overs World Cup, in Taunton, on Thursday.
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