India went into the 12-team tournament with the form of their top order causing concern, but Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have gone a long way in allaying those fears.
Mandhana scored 159 runs in three matches, while Shafali contributed 92, with both batsmen scoring more than 154 and consistently providing brisk starts.
However, the middle order’s inability to build on those platforms has emerged as a new concern for team management.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (SR 109.09), Jemimah Rodrigues (94.11) and Yastika Bhatia (105.88) failed to carry on the momentum given by the openers and their failure to accelerate left the likes of Rich Ghosh and Deepti Sharma much to do.
Having played three matches each, both Kaur and Rodrigues managed to score only 11 boundaries between them without hitting a single six. Yastika, meanwhile, hit just three fours in two innings, figures that are likely to worry the Indian camp going deeper into the tournament.
On their part, Richa (176.92) and Deepti (159.37) responded well to the challenge, but coming in late in the innings with limited deliveries increased the pressure on the duo.
Despite their inconsistent batting, India (4 points from 3 matches, Net Run Rate of 2.511) are reaping the benefits of winning by wide margins – by 64 runs against Pakistan and 95 runs against the Netherlands – as they look to retain second place in Group A.
