ICC Women's World Cup: India Meet Formidable England In Opener

Mithali Raj has already made statements in and off the field, with a fine 85 against Sri Lanka in India's last practice match being followed by a strong telling-off of a reporter in the pre-tournament dinner. But those things are now all in the past as India take on an extremely formidable England in their group opener. England are among the title contenders and in any case, taking on the hosts in the very first match of the tournament is never an easy assignment.

India have had an impressive build-up to the 50-over showpiece, beating South Africa by eight wickets in the final of the quadrangular series recently.

The 2005 runners-up might have directly qualified for the World Cup 2017 had they played their three games against Pakistan in the ICC Women's Championship and not forfeited the six points.

Having finished fifth on the table with 19 points, India had to go through the qualifiers in Sri Lanka where they went undefeated and won a thrilling final against South Africa by one wicket.

India will be playing the tournament under the experienced Mithali Raj, who recently became the third player to lead her team in 100 ODIs.

Raj, whose first target is to make the semi-finals, is coming off a record-breaking six successive half centuries, and she would look to continue in same vein.

The quadrangular tournament also saw a record opening stand of 320 by Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut against Ireland, the first partnership of more than 300 runs in women's cricket.

While the Indian batting revolves around Raj, Deepti has also provided some good starts lately. Smriti Mandhana has returned from injury to add to the side's strengths, while Raut and Mona Meshram have been doing well on their comebacks. Harmanpreet Kaur will also be a strong presence.

"The conditions there (South Africa) are completely different to what we are facing here in England. We can take a lot of confidence, but we need to start fresh again in the World Cup," Mithali said on match-eve.

"The girls, coming from Indian and South African tracks, are adapting to English conditions - it will take a while, but the girls are getting used to it," the skipper had said.

Jhulan Goswami, the highest wicket-taker in ODI history, will lead the Indian bowling attack.

The team would hope that Goswami finds enough support from Shikha Pandey with the new ball, while Ekta Bisht will lead the spin department.

As far as their recent form is concerned, India comprehensively won their last four ODI series, first whitewashing Sri Lanka and the West Indies at home and then beating South Africa in the finals of qualifier as well as the quadrangular series.

During this period, they won 16 out of the 17 games played.

Teams (from):

India: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Poonam Raut, Deepti Sharma, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Ekta Bisht, Sushma Verma, Mansi Joshi, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Nuzhat Parween.

England: Heather Knight (capt), Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Sarah Taylor, Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Danielle Hazell, Beth Langston, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danielle Wyatt, Lauren Winfield.

(With PTI Inputs)

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