The Indian women's cricket team would be aiming for quick recovery from a rare setback when it takes on South Africa in the fourth Twenty20 International, where a win would give the visitors an unbeatable series lead, in Centurion, on Wednesday.
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty slammed India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for her conduct, stating that she brought up the umpiring issue as India ended up on the losing side in the third and final ODI.
Raj anchored the Indian run chase with a 47-ball 56 which she made with the help of seven fours in the Group B match which was marred by unprecedented docking of 10 penalty runs on Pakistan.
Another player in talks with the franchisees is young all-rounder Dipti Sharma, who played a key role in taking India to the World Cup final in England in July.
Unlucky to have lost the previous tie against Pakistan by just two runs via D/L method, the Indian women's cricket team will be fighting a survival battle when it takes on a strong England side at the ICC World Twenty20 in Dharamsala on Tuesday. A defeat would virtually throw the home team out of the competition and the Mithali Raj-led side would hope to put their best foot forward against the English eves. Unlike the previous edition, where India women were ousted in the group stages, they are a strong contender this time around, courtesy their recent good showing in the T20 format, including a historic 2-1 away series win over mighty Australia in January followed by the 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in the run up to the ongoing World T20. In their last match also, India could have won the tie had rains not played spoilsport.
England all-rounder Nat Sciver smashed a record-equalling half century before the bowlers put the struggling Indian batters under pressure to ensure an 18 run-win for the hosts via Duckworth-Lewis method in the rain-curtailed first T20I in Northampton.
India bowled out Sri Lanka for 171 in 48.2 overs, and then chased down the target with 12 overs to spare.
The three-match T20I series thus ended 2-1 in favour of India, who stuttered after opting to bat before skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's resilient 39 not out (33b; 3x4, 1x6) propped up their total to 138 for five.
Jemimah Rodrigues's vital knock on return to secure a convincing 34-run victory
India were already in semi-finals after winning their first three matches but didn't let the intensity down against the formidable 'Southern Stars' in an inconsequential last group league encounter.
India women's team head coach Ramesh Powar is hardly perturbed by the 13-run defeat against Pakistan in the Asia Cup as the team management's primary aim was to test the temperament of the younger lot in a pressure situation.
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.
Let's delve into the world of IPL 2024 and meet the captains who are ready to leave their mark on cricket's biggest stage.
Harleen Deol's (52) confident maiden international fifty was the only silver lining for an otherwise lacklustre display by the Indians, who posted a modest 130 for 6 after being invited to bat.
'Whatever we decided, we decided for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, no regrets. I'm proud of the way my girls played through the tournament'
Captain Mithali Raj led from the front with an unbeaten 74 as India women outclassed England by eight wickets in the third and final One-Day International in Nagpur to clinch the ODI series 2-1.
Delhi Capitals handed Royal Challengers Bangalore their fifth straight loss of the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League on Monday.
India have dominated New Zealand so far in the series and won the second game by eight runs. The third and final ODI will be played on Friday.
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.
India lost all their T20s in New Zealand after winning the ODI series and things are heading in a similar direction against England with two more games to go. Ahead of the second T20 Thursday, the momentum is with the visitors who also won the third and final ODI.
The decision needs to be ratified by Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) members and follows a bidding process which included a joint presentation by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The crushing defeat in Sunday's final against Australia will haunt Harmanpreet Kaur and her team but the cricket-mad country reacted with maturity to the setback and support poured in for Kaur's team, which included several teenagers.
BCCI recommended India pacers Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and women's team player Poonam Yadav for the Arjuna award.
Medium-pacer Deepti Sharma grabbed six wickets before Veda Krishnamurthy scored a half-century as India women completed 3-0 clean sweep after posting a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI on Friday at Ranchi. Deepti followed up her four-for in the previous game with figures of six for 20 to bundle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 112 in 38.2 overs. India then crossed the target in just 29.3 overs with Veda Krishnamurthy top-scoring with an unbeaten 61. Sri Lanka got off to a good start after electing to bat, with openers Yasoda Mendis (14) and Prasadani Weerakkody (19) adding 33 before Deepti took two wickets in two consecutive deliveries to trigger a dramatic collapse. Although captain Shashikala Siriwardene (14) and Dilani Manodara (23) later combined for a 32-run sixth-wicket stand, wickets kept falling and Sri Lanka were ultimately bowled out for 112 from 94 for five at one stage. Debutant Preeti Bose also put up an impressive show, returning figures of 8-4-8-2.
Skipper Mithali Raj led from the front with an 89-run knock to save the Indian women's cricket team from a whitewash by guiding it to a comfortable five-wicket in the third and final ODI against Australia in Hobart on Sunday. The Indians, having already surrendered the series by losing the first two matches, managed to end the tour on a positive note with a consolation victory. Electing to bat after winning the toss, the Australian team lost a couple of early wickets before half-centuries by Elyse Perry (50) and Alex Blackwell (60) helped the team post 231/7 in their 50 overs. Blackwell's 60 from 64 balls was noteworthy given that Australia's strong batting line-up struggled to score freely in the face of a disciplined bowling display from India.
Esports to breakdancing, Hangzhou will set the trend for future of sport
Mithali Raj-led India will take on Meg Lanning's Australia at the WACA ground in Perth from September 30 in what will be only the second day-night Test in women's cricket.
England women scripted a sensational recovery from a difficult position to register a consolation two-wicket win in the third and final ODI to prevent hosts India from completing a whitewash in the three-match series.
Indian women cricketers took to social media to laud the Board of Control for Cricket in India for introducing equal match fees for both men's and women's cricketers in a huge step to introduce pay equity in the sport.
Indian women's cricket team would look to continue its supremacy over South Africa when the two sides clash in the second Twenty20 International, in East London, on Friday.
Virat Kohli sent the shutterbugs into a clicking frenzy as he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
IMAGES from the WPL match between UP Warriorz and Royal Challengers Bangalore, played in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday.
Mithali Raj will lead the 14-member Indian squad in the next month's ICC Women's World Cup Qualifiers which brings together 10 sides in their quest to claim the remaining four places in the main event to be held in June next year. The tournament will run from February 7 to 21 at four Colombo venues and the sides finishing in the top four of the Super Six stage will join defending champion Australia, host England, former winner New Zealand and reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion West Indies in the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 from June 26 to July 23.
India needed just three runs from the final over but had only themselves to blame for the loss. With veteran Mithali Raj well set at the crease on 30 off 32 balls, the ODI skipper was left stranded at the other end and didn't get an opportunity to face a single delivery in the final over that was bowled by Kate Cross (2/18).
The Indian women's cricket team suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the second T20 International, surrendering the series with a sixth straight loss in the shortest format.
Coach Ramesh Powar is 'not concerned at all' as he attributed the poor performance to lack of game time
Deepti is currently placed second on the MRF Tyres ICC Women's ODI Rankings for all-rounders only after Australia's Ellyse Perry. At a young age, she has been an integral part of the Indian team, even finishing as her team's highest wicket-taker at the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, where India lost to England in the final.
The early overs used to be all about Smriti Mandhana but India's star opener says she feels relieved of pressure thanks to the emergence of teenage prodigy Shafali Verma. There's been no hesitation from Verma in making a name for herself on the global stage, the 16-year-old having scored 68 runs across two games, including five sixes and seven fours, at an impressive strike rate of 212.
Brett Lee offered his perspective on what the tournament means for women's cricket.
Meg Lanning's Australia, long the benchmark in women's cricket, will bid for a record-extending fifth T20 World Cup title after a rocky ride to their sixth final. Harmanpreet Kaur-captained India arrive at the MCG undefeated and without having bowled a ball in the rained-out semi-final against England.