Confident and Clinical India Down the Netherlands

It was a tough day in the field for the World Cup newcomers as they encountered one of the strongest teams in the tournament. India didn’t disappoint.

Netherlands’ captain Babette de Leede won the toss and elected to field first at Headingley. From the get go, Smriti Mandhana (74) and Shafali Verma (55) put on a show for the crowd of 9,000 plus. Plenty of orange in the crowd but ones cheering were waving Indian flags as the openers tore apart the Dutch attack.

Wickets fell but the run rate kept climbing. Richa Ghosh put the icing on the cake with 20 runs from 8 deliveries. India finished with a mammoth 209/5. Best with the ball for the Netherlands was the leggie, Caroline de Lange with 2-32.

It was a long session in the field. The openers, Heather Siegers (21) and Phebe Molkenboer (15) got off to a bright start but once the Indian spinners opened their bags of tricks, it was a well trodden path back to the pavilion. Resistance shown by Babette de Leede (28) but India’s bowlers were far too good and the Netherlands were all out for 114.

Player of the match was Smriti Mandhana with her 74 and two catches, giving her a total of four catches in just two games. She’s not even the top catcher – that goes to team mate Jemimah Rodrigues with 5. The Indian fielders have turned up to play.

Scores:

India 209/5 (Smriti Mandhana 74, Shafali Verma 55, Caroline de Lange 2-32) defeated
Netherlands 114 (Babette de Leede 28, Shree Charani 4-19,  Shafali Verma 3-20, Nandani Sharma 2-22) by 95 runs

POTM: Smriti Mandhana