India Women vs Ireland Women, T20 World Cup 2023
In the last match against England, India pacer Renuka Thakur created history when she took 5 wickets for 15 runs . This feat made her the first Indian pacer to take a 5 wicket haul and second Indian bowler after spinner Priyanka Roy to take 5 wickets in a Women’s T20 World Cup.
Renuka had got rid of 3 England players in her first 3 overs inside powerplay and added 2 more right at the death. Her 5 victims on Saturday were Dunkley, Wyatt, Capsey, Jones and Katherine Sciver Brunt.
It was still not enough for India to take home the victory, however as a top order collapse led to England defeating India for the 6th consecutive time in a T20 World Cup.
Read more T20 World Cup stories below:
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: Renuka’s five-for not good enough for India Women
"It was a good game for us. Smriti got runs which was very important. Whenever she's giving us that start, we are always get good totals. I just wanted to go there and spend some time in the middle. It (reaching the semis) means a lot, we are working so hard for so many years and we always want to do well. Hope we'll give our 100%. We always enjoy our match against them (Australia). It will be a do or die for both the teams. We just want to go and play free cricket."
"It (finger) is fine. (Pitch) One of toughest innings I'd have played in terms of the pace at what they were bowling. We had discussed that we weren't going to get as much pace. With the wind, it got worse than we thought. Real hard work for the first 30 balls, I thought I had forgotten how to bat. Later on, I told myself to get into better positions to hit. Once you start middling, you'll start hitting well. It's good to score few runs and go in to the semis. The team is also looking really well. We've done amazing work. Lot of lessons learnt, hopefully we'll try and use everything and try and win the semis and the finals."
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And yes, it's official. India defeat Ireland according to the DLS method. Heartbreak for the Irish as India make their way to the semis to face Australia.
Ireland women's, team Twitter handle have meanwhile tweeted that "That's the game. The rain hasn't stopped and we've run out of time. We lose by just five runs on DLS. A fantastic effort by the team today."
And now multiple reports have suggested that we have started losing overs. And the cut off time is 10.03 pm IST. The rain hasn't stopped yet and even if it does, it will take at least some time for the outfield to dry up.
Still nothing to report from the middle but as Nasser Hussain had said on air that if the match does not start in 30 minutes, we'll start losing over. Looks like we are headed in that direction with just a few minutes left till the clock hits 30 mins
Vastrakar in to bowl the 9th and starts with 2 dots but the rain has come in. India are ahead at the momernt by 5 runs according to Duckworth Lewis. IRE 54/2 after 8.2 overs
Gayakwad in for the 8th over and that's a top edge from Lewis but Richa can't get there. Living dangerously, the Irish batter. A single off the next ball and that's 50 up for Ireland. Another sweep by Delany to deep midwicket for a single. IRE 53/2 after 8 overs
Shikha Pandey to bowl the 7th and that's 2 from the first 2 balls. The next 2 balls are dots. Good length from the pacer. Delany hits one to square leg for a single. IRE 48/2 after 7 overs
Deepti Sharma to bowl the last over inside powerplay and Lewis hits a reverse boundary for a four!!! Another sweep to end the over. IRE 44/2 after 6 overs
Shikha Pandey to bowl the penultimate over inside powerplay. Starts with a wide. The next ball, Lewis swings and gets a single. Another four off the fifth ball. IRE 33/2 after 5 overs
Vastrakar in to bowl the 4th and Lewis hits it straight under the bowler's legs for a boundary. Aggressive start from the Irish batters. 1 run from the next 2 balls. A ramp shot by Delaney next and that's gone for 4 more!!! IRE 23/2 after 4 overs
Renuka in to bowl the 3rd over and after a dot, Delaney hits the second through point for a four!!! The fourth ball is a wide!!! 2 dots to follow. Just 5 from it. IRE 14/2 after 3 overs
Pooja Vastrakar in to bowl the second over and ireland are right under the pump after losing those early wickets. Lewis begins this one with a streaky four but the last 5 balls are all dots. IRE 9/2 after 2 overs
And another!!! Renuka continues her hot form and castles Prendergast!!!!! What a start by India!!! A four to end the over. Ireland rattled at 5/2 after 1 over
Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis are at the crease. Amy Hunter is on strike. Renuka Singh will open the attack. And yes!!! She strikes early Amy hunter is run out!!! IRE 1/1 after 0.1 over.
Arlene Kelly in to bowl the last over and Jemimah hits her straight for the boundary. 3 dots follow and a single next to bring up 150 for India. Another four by Jemimah as she comes down the track and smashes it. And the last ball leads to a stumping. IND 155/6 after 20 overs
Prendergast strikes again in the next ball as deepti Sharma is gone for a duck. She gets a leading edge and that has been gobbled up by the fielder. Soft dismissal. IND 145/5 after 19 overs
Prendergast will bowl the penultimate over of this innings. 2 runs off the first two balls. And finally!!! Ireland gets Smriti Mandhana. She goes high and this time Gaby Lewis takes the catch. IND 143/4 after 18.4 overs
Delany in to bowl the 18th and Mandhana has hit her for a boundary in her first ball. And a six this time!!! This time over the long on boundary!!! IND 140/3 after 18 overs
Arlene Kelly in to bowl the 17th and Mandhana has gone after her as wel with a boundary off the 3rd ball and she has been dropped in the fifth ball as well!!! That goes for a four to add to the Irish woes. IND 126/3 after 17 overs
And that's 2 for 2 for Ireland as Richa Ghosh tries to hit a big shot and finds the fielder!!! She's out for a duck as India go 3 wickets down!!! IND 115/3 after 16 overs
Delany in to bowl the 16th and mandhana has hit her for a 6!!! She is on fire at the moment. 50 partnership up for Kaur and Mandhana. Ohhh!!! Kaur tries to go for it but she has been caught. What a catch by the Irish player!! IND 114/2 after 15.5 overs
Georgina Dempsey in to bowl the 15th and Smriti has switched gears. That's two back to back boundaries from this over as 100 comes up for India. Good over for India. IND 105/1 after 15 overs.
Cara Murray to bowl the 14th and that's another opportunity to catch Mandhana out. Not a wise shot to play in that occasion. But the fielder can't reach it. And a slog sweep for a 6!! That's Mandhana's 22nd 50 in T20Is. IND 95/1 after 14 overs
Prendergast to bowl the 13th over and Kaur takes 2 runs off the 2nd ball to bring up 3000 runs for herself. And Mandhana clears her front leg and it's gone for a four!!! IND 86/1 after 13 overs
Delany in to bowl the 12th and that's 3 runs from the first 3 balls. Make it four from four. Going at a run a ball in this over. 7 off this over ultimately. IND 78/1 after 12 overs.
Leah Paul in to bowl the 11th over and she will be bowling to Harmanpreet Kaur, who has come in at Number 3 today. Which means Jemimah will come at number 4. 1 run the first two balls and Mandhana pulls the 3rd ball for another single. Good running between the wickets from the batters. Finally Mandhana gets the big shot she was hoping for. Comes down the ground and hits it for a four!! IND 71/1 after 11 overs
Laura Delany starts the 10th over with 2 wides. Balances it out with 2 dots. Good comeback. And it's a wicket!! Shafali tries to pick it up and gets the fielder!!! IND 62/1 after 9.3 overs
Leah Paul in to bowl the 9th and her, short and wide 2nd delivery splits two fielders and goes for a boundary. And Mandhana has hit another one again. It's still not happening for her. IND 60/0 after 9 overs
Cara Murray in to bowl the 8th over and Mandhana comes down the ground and hits it high!! Will that be caught? No!! The Irish player was to slow reach it. Mandhana gives another opportunity but again, the ball falls short for an Ireland fielder. 2 close chances in one over. 50 up for India. Mandhana goes big again and this time she finds a fielder but ohhhh, she has dropped her!! IND 53/0 after 8 overs
Arlene Kelly in to bowl the 7th and gives away just the 4 runs off the over. But there was a big chance for a catch out as Mandhana drived the last ball to long off only for the fielder to get a hand on it. IND 46/0 after 7 overs
Last over of the powerplay and Leah Paul will bowl this one. Mandhana drives the first ball for a single to deep midwicket. Shafali rotates strike with another single. Mandhana back and she tries to hit a big one but it just yields a single. Verma finally gets another four with a beautiful shot to long off. Smriti joins the party and a lovely cover drive for a four to end this over. IND 42/0 after 6 overs
Arlene Kelly is introduced in the attack for the penultimate over inside powerplay. Mandhana strokes her first ball for a single. Shafali on strike. She can't seem to get a good nick off the bat at the moment. 2 dots. Another attempted stroke and it reaches a fielder. Finally, she's off the mark leaving Mandhana to face the last ball of this over. A single and Mandhana will keep strike in the next over. IND 30/0 after 5 overs
Dempsey in for the 4th over and Verma pushes it for 1 run. Mandhana comes in and pulls one but it falls in no man's land. That's 2 more runs. Ufff!! Short ball next and Smriti pulls again and it's just over the fielder for a four. Very, very close. Another ball straigh to the legside and Mandhana flicks it behind. Almost a four but the fielder does well. A single to end the over. IND 27/0 after 4 overs
Prendergast in to bowl the 3rd over and starts with 2 dot balls. Make that 3 dots as Mandhana struggles to put her away. And finally, Mandhana with a picture perfect drive to open up the offside for a boundary. Excellent timing. IND 16/0 after 3 overs
Georgina Dempsey in to bowl the 2nd over and Mandhana flicks the first ball behind for 2 runs. The second ball is played straight to the bowler. Mandhana rotates strike on the 3rd ball with a single and the fourth ball is smashed by Verma for a four!!! Tries to come out and hit it straight again but does not get the required hit. IND 11/0 after 2 overs
Shafali Verma and Mandhana are at the crease. Shafali Verma is on strike. Prendergast will open the attack. 3 dots to begin before Shafali finally gets off the mark from the fourth ball. Mandhana pulls the fifth ball towards deep midwicket and the batters run for 3 runs. IND 4/0 after 1 over
There's a grey patch on the surface, but looks like an excellent pitch to bat on. It's a good decision to bat first, according to Anjum Chopra.
Here come the players and it's time for the national anthems. Ireland's Amhrán na bhFiann rings out first, followed by India's Jana Gana Mana.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will be playing her 150th T20I match today against Ireland and India will be hoping that she gets back to her best. So far, in this tournament Kaur has stuggled a bit scoring 4 (vs England), 33 (vs West Indies) and 16 (vs Pakistan).
India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh
Ireland Women (Playing XI): Amy Hunter, Gaby Lewis, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Louise Little, Laura Delany(c), Arlene Kelly, Mary Waldron(w), Leah Paul, Cara Murray, Georgina Dempsey
Harmanpreet Kaur: We are going to bat first. Looks a hard and dry surface. Many of us haven't got that many runs, we need to express ourselves. Devika is playing in place of Radha. It (playing 150 T20I games) means a lot, I got an emotional message from my team-mates. Thanks to BCCI and ICC, we are able to play so many games.
Laura Delany: We have to put in our best performance, need to stick to the process. Think the pressure is on India in this game. The players have shown glimpses of what they are capable of doing at this stage.
Time for the toss. Harmanpreet wins the toss and india have opted to bat first against Ireland.
Jemimah Rodrigues was the player of the match when India took on Pakistan in the opening contest. Since then, the top order batter has struggled for consistency. Can she fire back to form against Ireland later tonight? Read our match report here.
“The over that India lost Smriti Mandhana, that point was so crucial because she was building a partnership with Richa Ghosh," said Raj.
“Until she was there, there were hopes that India could end up winning this game, but it was a tall ask from the lower-middle order of India to chase down the total.
“(England) were expensive in the Powerplay, but when it came to the middle overs and the death overs, they were disciplined. They dried up the runs of the opposition, and got those wickets in the last few overs.
Last match against England, pacer Renuka Singh started like a house on fire scalping 3 English wickets inside the powerplay and then adding 2 more to complete her fifer. But a top order collapse, bar Mandhana, made it very difficult for India to get over the line against England. Read more from our match report here.
The loss to England left India sweating on their qualification chances. But Pakistan missed the opportunity to put big pressure on, with their loss to West Indies meaning that India’s fate is back in their own hands.
Win Monday’s match against Ireland and Harmanpreet Kaur and her team can secure qualification.Should India lose that match then they would only miss out on a semi-final spot should either the margin of defeat be so significant that they slip below West Indies on Net Run Rate, or should Pakistan pull off a an upset win over England.
Smriti Mandhana roared back in form against England in the last match, scoring a crucial 50 runs but that was not enough for India to cross the line as all the other top order fell cheaply. India need to beat Ireland tonight comprehensively to enter the semis. Can Mandhana play a pivotal part tonight as well?
India women have faced Ireland once in T20Is. Back in 2018 at Providence. A match they won by 52 runs, defending 146 as the hosts could only muster 93/8 in their 20 overs.
In Group A, Australia Women have already qualified for the semis with a four wins in four games record. Per usual. However, it ain't over as far as the other spot is concerned. New Zealand and Sri Lanka are both done with their four matches and have four points. The Black Ferns however, lead owing to a superior net run rate. Hosts South Africa have a chance to qualify. With a run rate better than that of New Zealand, all they need to do is to win against Bangladesh in the final group stage match.
Ever since she burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old during the T20 World Cup in 2020 – where India lost in the final to Australia – Richa has come a long way. With a career strike rate of 135.67, the 19-year-old is India’s trump card in the middle order. In the current T20 World Cup cycle, her strike rate of 141.86 is the fifth best, she showed once again how she has matured into her role as a finisher. [Read more]
For Ireland, the group stage hasn't panned out the way it was expected following a surprise win against defending champions and tournament favorites Australia in the warm up meet. The Laura Delaney-led team have lost all three of their games against England, the Windies and Pakistan.
India Women hadn't done much wrong two and half games into their 2023 T20 World Cup campaign. They had defeated both Pakistan and West Indies and strangled England to 151/7 courtesy of Renuka Thakur five-for. The chase however, saw the shortcomings of the team. Shortcomings that had been hinted in their two previous chases in the competition. Against Ireland, a team that is out of semifinal contention but did beat Australia in the warm ups, they would want to put up their best performance yet to seal a semifinal spot. Big game coming up, stay tuned for all the updates.