India and Barbados have won one and lost one match each so far in the competition and the winner of today’s match between the two sides will book their place in the semis.
Smriti was the highest scorer for India against Pakistan with 63 of 42 balls. Image: BCCI Women/Twitter
India women’s cricket team will aim to book a place in the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, when they take on Barbados women in their third Group A match at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
After a disappointing loss in its tournament opener against Australia, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets and the Women in Blue will now be riding high on confidence when they take on Hayley Matthews-led Barbados.
Notably, India and Barbados have won one and lost one match each so far in the competition and the winner of today’s match between the two sides will book their place in the semis. Also, it will be the first meeting between India and Barbados in T20I cricket.
So far, Australia from Group A, and New Zealand and England from Group B, have booked their place in the semi-finals and there is just one spot remaining.
Talking about the Group A tally, Australia are on top with four points (two wins from two games), and are followed by India in second position with two points (one win and one defeat). Barbados are third with two points (one win and a defeat), and with a lower net run rate of -1.794, compared to India’s +1.165. Meanwhile, Pakistan are bottom, having lost both their games.
Meanwhile, India will be further boosted by the arrival of their star all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, who has recovered from Covid-19 and has joined the squad in Birmingham. Notably, Vastrakar and S Meghana had to stay back in India after contracting COVID-19 ahead of their scheduled departure.
While Meghana played against Pakistan on Sunday, Vastrakar will be available for the must-win game against Barbados. Her presence lends balance to the team combination.
On the other hand, Barbados will have a lot of work to do as they suffered a nine-wicket defeat against Australia in their previous fixture. However, ahead of the CWG 2022, Barbados skipper Mathews had said that they can upset big teams including India.
“It’s going to be a challenging tournament for us, but we’re welcoming it with open arms,” the 24-year-old Matthews, a West Indies regular and also someone who plays in India’s T20 Women’s Challenge, had said.
“Once we go out there and execute what we know we can do, we have a chance of beating the bigger sides.”
Usually, a combined West Indies team compete in International cricket, but Caribbean islands are represented separately at the Games, so Barbados were chosen to compete after finishing as champions at the 2019 Caribbean domestic T20 tournament and now they will aim to cause a major upset by defeating India and seal the semis berth.
Notably, women’s cricket has been included in the Games for the first time and has made its debut in T20I format after men’s cricket appeared at the Kuala Lumpur edition in 1998.
India vs Barbados match will be played on 3 August, Wednesday, at 10.30 PM IST at Edgbaston. It will be aired live on the Sony Sports Network. The match will also be streamed live on the SonyLIV app.
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