Navi Mumbai: The jubilation after the Jemima Rodrigues-inspired world record run chase in Thursday’s semi-final win over Australia barely covers up India Women’s faulty bowling.
On their day, South Africa Women, India’s opponents in Sunday’s ODI World Cup final at the DY Patil Stadium, have proven they can be ruthless enough to destroy any opposition attack.
Quicks Renuka Singh and Kranti Gaud are just not penetrative enough, so the onus will be on India’s spinners — Deepti Sharma and the consistent Shree Charani — to put the brakes on the South African batters. Precisely, it’s Deepti and young left-arm spinner Charani who have had to shoulder India’s bowling workload in this World Cup.
For Charani, the Andhra bowler with 13 wickets so far and the second-highest wicket-taker among the Indians in the competition, she not only made timely strikes but was also quite disciplined to maintain an economy rate of 4.91. But being the senior pro, off-spinner all-rounder Deepti needs to take a bigger responsibility to have India well placed in the decider.
With 17 wickets so far in the current Cup edition and on par with Australian Annabel Sutherland, Deepti’s role will again be massive for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. in their quest for a maiden World Cup crown. The former Bengal cricketer, though, emphasised the need to back each other in the final instead of worrying about the result.
“As a team, our mindset is how we can help and back each other for a better performance. Before thinking about the result, it’s about following our process, whether we bat or bowl first,” Deepti said late on Thursday night.
“Besides, all matches won’t be the same. I’ll look for an early breakthrough (in the final), and the way I finished against Australia (with two late wickets at the death) was a positive sign,” she asserted.
During South Africa’s rain-curtailed training on Friday, skipper Laura Wolvaardt played the sweep and reverse-sweep in good numbers. The buoyant Proteas women, too, are doing their bit to keep Deepti and Charani at bay.
