(Cricket news) After winning the 1st ODI comfortably by 7 wickets, India now have a chance to wrap up the series. It will be a perfect ending to Jhulan Goswami's incredible international career. England will definitely look to come back hard as their performance in the 1st match was nowhere near their best.
India's ideal playing XI:
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harmanpreet Kaur (c ), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Bench:
Simran Bahadur, Taniya Bhatia, S. Meghna, Renuka Singh, Dayalan Hemalatha
The Indian team's balance looked perfect in the first match with batting till number 9. The side also has 8 very good bowling options which doesn't include Shafali Verma who is also very handy. Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Yastika Bhatia played really well in the first match and they will be looking to do the same. Spin is India's biggest strength but their seamers could do better in order to get more wickets up front by using the conditions. It has been a while since Verma has played a big knock and this is a very good opportunity for her. Mandhana is often the one who takes all the plaudits and rightly so but Verma is equally important for this team.
England's ideal playing XI:
Tammy Beaumont, Emma Lamb, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Dani Wyatt, Amy Jones, Alice Davidson-Richards, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross, Issy Wong,
Bench:
Lauren Bell, Freya Kemp, Maia Bouchier, Freya Davies
England really caved in the first innings against the Indian spinners which is what they have to do better. The bowlers didn't have enough runs to defend but they certainly could have done better. Amy Jones' captaincy was questionable, especially her decision to bring on Sophie Ecclestone so late on despite England desperately needing a wicket. England's middle order needs to be a little aggressive to not let the run rate drop while batting first. With players like Wyatt and Dunkley, the home side doesn't need to be on the defensive side.
Also read: India lock horns with Australia for the 1st T20I in Mohali
