WWC 2017: England v India, Final - 5 Game Changing Moments

It all came down to the one last clash at the Lord’s to decide the winner of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. India took on England in a highly anticipated encounter in front of a capacity crowd. The way the game panned out, it left everyone on the edge of the seats. England edged past India in a nail-biting finish to be crowned the World Champions for the 4th time. Winning the toss, the hosts opted to bat first and the openers got off to a steady start with a partnership of 47 runs. But they lost 3 wickets in a quick succession and found themselves on the back foot. Sarah Taylor and Natalie Sciver brought stability to the innings with a stand of 83. India struck thrice again in quick time to halt the progress and as a result, England were restricted to 228/7 at the end of 50 overs. In reply, India were off to a poor start as Smriti Mandhana departed without troubling the scorers. The skipper Mithali Raj got out at the team’s score of 43 but Punam Raut and Harmanpreet Kaur stitched together a useful partnership of 95 runs. India were well on course to chase down the target but after Punam was removed in the 43rd over, they totally lost the plot and one by one, every batter made her way back to the pavilion. At the end, India fell short by just 9 runs and the hopes of winning the first ever World Cup were shattered. Here are the 5 Game Changing Moments from the final #1 Goswami’s triple strike Taylor and Sciver were threatening to run away with the game when the English score read 144/3 after 32 overs. Both the batters were well set to launch some big strikes. But the experienced Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami’s struck just at the right time. Taylor edged one down the leg side to the pacer that ended in the gloves of the keeper that cut short her stay to 45 off 62 balls. Off the very next ball, Fran Wilson was trapped right in front of the wickets as she fell for a duck. 4 overs later, the other danger woman Sciver was also removed by Goswami courtesy of an LBW. From 146/3, they were now reeling at 164/6 with a handful of overs remaining. Goswami ended with figures of 23/3 in 10 overs that brought India back into the game. #2 Gunn-Marsh’s late flourish At 164/6 in the 38th over, England were in danger of being bowled out inside 200 which was going to be difficult for them to defend given the way the opposition had batted in the last couple of matches. Jenny Gunn and Laura Marsh stuck to the crease and refused to throw the wickets away. Their partnership of 32 off 24 balls gave the side the much-needed impetus that prompted them to a fighting total of 228/7. At that stage, every run was vital and in the end, those few runs proved to be the difference as they won by a narrow margin of 9 runs. #3 Mithali Raj’s run out After the early dismissal of Mandhana, Punam Raut and Mithali Raj combined well to bring back substance to the chase. They took the score to 43 in 12 overs and both were the in-form batters. But suddenly, a lapse in the running between the wickets led to the downfall of the Indian skipper. Punam worked a ball towards square leg and got off to run, unaware of the fact that her partner wasn’t too keen on running. Mithali reluctantly went for the run and was found a mile short of the crease at the striker’s end. She went back after scoring 17 off 31 balls and her wicket was extremely crucial at that stage given the kind of form she has been in the tournament. #4 Harmanpreet finding the fielder perfectly The centurion from the semifinal, Harmanpreet Kaur continued from where she left off in the previous game. Along with Punam Raut, she brought India to a position of strength. After 32 overs, India’s score read 136/2 with both the batters well set at the crease. While looking to accelerate, Harmanpreet looked to sweep the ball off Alex Hartley but timed the ball too well as it went straight into the hands of Beaumont at backward square leg where she didn’t have to move an inch to pouch the ball. The Indian batter departed for 51 off 80 balls and that was the wicket that put England back in the driver’s seat. #5 Shrubsole’s defining spell “Cometh the hour, cometh the champion”, they say and it suits perfectly for Anya Shrubsole. The English pacer bowled the finest spell of her career and what a game it was to pull off the performance in. She drew first blood by cleaning up Mandhana in the 2nd over of the innings. Then she came back to remove the dangerous Punam Raut in the 43rd over as the batter departed for 86 off 115 balls. In the 45th over, the wicket of Veda Krishnamurthy proved to be the turning point and once again, it was Shrubsole who accounted for a crucial wicket. Jhulan Goswami, Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad all fell prey to the deadly bowling of the pacer who ended with magnificent figures of 46/6 from 9.4 overs for which she won the Player of the Match award.

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WWC 2017: England v India, Final - 5 Game Changing Moments

The way the game panned out, it left everyone on the edge of the seats

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