Jhulan helps India restrict England
WORLD CUP FINAL Veteran pacer’s 323 and legspinner Poonam Yadav’s 236 contain hosts to 228 for seven
India turned up in a manner befitting the occasion and stopped England at 228 for seven in the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup, leaving themselves with a realistic chance of doing what seemed unreal at the start of the tournament.
The coin landing in the opponents’ favour at the toss was hardly a deterrent as India went about the task in a professional manner.
Leading the show was the redoubtable Jhulan Goswami, who scythed through the English middle-order.
A proven performer for long, Jhulan delivered with three wickets in the most widely watched game in the history of women’s cricket.
The highlight of the lanky pacer’s outing was the back-toback dismissals of Sarah Taylor and Fran Wilson, which pegged England back.
Taylor is a legend of the women’s game and Sciver entered the marquee match on the back of two centuries, and Jhulan had them caught behind and trapped in front of the wicket.
In what could be her last match, Taylor walked off to an ovation from the almost sell-out Lord’s crowd after scoring 45 off 62 balls. The veteran English batswoman, surprisingly, could not hit a boundary in her innings.
The in-from Sciver struck 51 off 68 balls, hitting five boundaries, before her recovery act was cut short by Jhulan in the 38th over.
Jhulan finished her spell with impressive figures of 3/23 in the allotted 10 overs, which included three maidens.
The end of Jhulan’s spell proved to be a boon for England, who rode on Katherine Brunt’s 42-ball 34 and Jenny Gunn’s 25 off 38 balls towards the end to sign off with a respectable total.
After Jhulan, legspinner Poonam Yadav was the most impressive bowler, finishing with two 2/36 in her quota of 10 overs.
Earlier, England were off to a decent start with openers Lauren Winfield (24) and Tammy Beaumont (23) putting on 47 runs in a little over 11 overs. Rajeshwari Gayakwad gave the spirited visitors their first breakthrough when she removed Winfield.
Yadav dismissed the other opener and skipper Knight in a span of two overs to leave England in a spot of bother at 63 for three in the 17th over.
Taylor and Sciver steadied the ship with a partnership before spearhead Jhulan returned and removed Sciver. The big occasion of the Women’s World Cup final meant India’s seniormost hand put her hand up and led the way in the pressure game against England at Lord’s on Sunday. The Lord’s pitch slope has been a challenge for generations of bowlers, but Jhulan Goswami again proved the player for the big occasion by capturing 3/23 with crucial strikes in the middle overs to peg back England’s scoring momentum.
Jhulan ‘Gozzy’ Goswami