CWG 2022 Cricket preview: India take on England with finals spot at stake

Ahead of the Indian teams departure to Birmingham for womens T20 cricket event in 2022 Commonwealth Games words from Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur were all about the chance of winning a medal especially gold at EdgbastonCome Saturday and Indias quest for winning the elusive yellow metal could gain a big push if they cross the hurdle named England in the first semifinalFor Harmanpreet and her side the chance to get the gold medal has the opportunity to come true in the upcoming weekend A gold or even a podium finish has the potential to inject another wave of supporters towards womens cricket considering how winning a medal in a global sporting event is an obsession in IndiaIn Indias campaign till now there have been positives all around despite the heartbreaking threewicket loss to Australia from a position of strength Harmanpreet took the lead in attacking with the bat against Australia which was carried forward by Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma against Pakistan Against Barbados where they were reduced to 924 Jemimah Rodrigues 56 not out and Deepti Sharma 34 not out delivered the goods with the batWith the ball pacer Renuka Thakur has smashed her way to picking two fourwicket hauls and becoming the current leading wickettaker in the competition Experienced allrounder Sneh Ranas first match in the multination event saw her stifle Pakistans run flow and with support from Deepti and Radha Yadav Indias spin department is doing a steady jobBut one of Indias weak links in the recent past has been the inability to win big matches Like in the ODI World Cup this year they were unable to defeat Australia England New Zealand and South Africa by the barest of marginsAlso Read Sanjay Manjrekar backs Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal combo for T20 World CupMoreover England have been a team which has snapped Indias road to glory in the past be it be in ODI World Cup final in 2017 or in semifinals of T20 World Cup in 2018Despite the absence of regular captain Heather Knight England have a formidable look as they topped Group B compared to Indias second place finish in Group ATeenager Alice Capsey has been at her attacking best at number three while veteran pacer Katherine Brunt has chipped in with both bat and more importantly with the ball Leftarm spinner Sophie Ecclestone young pacers Issy Wong and Freya Kemp have been delightful to watchOne hopes that India with a killing attitude hope to erase the differences of the past which have led them to be second best in the matches which mattered a lot and continue their quest for a gold medalSquadsEngland Maia Bouchier Katherine Brunt Alice Capsey Kate Cross Freya Davies Sophia Dunkley Sophie Ecclestone Sarah Glenn Amy Jones wicketkeeper Freya Kemp Nat Sciver vicecaptain Bryony Smith Issy Wong and Danni WyattIndia Harmanpreet Kaur captain Smriti Mandhana vicecaptain Shafali Verma S Meghana Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia wicketkeeper Deepti Sharma Rajeshwari Gayakwad Pooja Vastrakar Meghna Singh Renuka Thakur Jemimah Rodrigues Radha Yadav Harleen Deol and Sneh RanaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever