Women's T20 World Cup: India will need to up their game against England

After being put under pressure in their previous two games India will have no room for error when they take on a formidable England in the Womens T20 World Cup here on FridayA win against world number two England on Friday will take the Harmanpreet Kaurled side effectively into the knockout stage to be competed among top two teams from Group 1 and 2The Indians beat archrivals Pakistan by seven wickets before notching a more convincing sixwicket win against West Indies earlier this weekWhile the twin wins put India in a strong position to qualify for the semifinals it was hardhitting teenager Richa Ghoshs brilliance which pulled the Women in Blue over the line on both occasionsAgainst England the toporder will have to give a better account of themselves U19 World Cupwinning captain Shafali Verma has been unable to convert her starts in the tournament so far giving away her wicket at crucial juncturesBack after nursing a finger injury Smriti Mandhana looked in imperious touch as she timed the ball to perfection but couldnt go the distanceJemimah Rodrigues will seek some consistency while skipper Kaur has also looked in good touch and has made useful contributions though she has not scored big so far with 33 being her highestThey will have to navigate Englands spin trio of Charlie Dean Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah GlennWhile the bowling department put up a muchimproved show against West Indies the Indian bowlers will have to bowl out of their skin against England who have the likes teenager Alice Capsey who will head into the match high on confidence after notching the jointfastest fifty in Womens T20 World Cup historyPooja Vastrakar has been impressive sharing the new ball duties with Renuka Singh while the everreliable Deepti Sharma bowled showcased exemplary death bowling against West IndiesAlso readSmriti Mandhana bought by RCB for whopping Rs 340 crore MI gets Harmanpreet for nearly halfThe fielding too has been patchy with misfields and dropped catch marring some stellar display India can ill afford the sloppiness against England who are bound punish any mistakesOn the other hand firm title contenders England like India are also unbeaten after two games and are bestplaced to qualify for the semifinalsOn the same points as India 0590 Heather Knight and Co lead the group owing to a superior net run rate of 2497The mix of youth and experience is doing the trick for the former champions with the likes of Capsey and Lauren Bell supporting the experience of Knight Nat and Katherine SciverBrunt and Danni WyattTeams fromIndia Harmanpreet Kaur c Smriti Mandhana Shafali Verma Yastika Bhatia Richa Ghosh Jemimah Rodrigues Harleen Deol Deepti Sharma Devika Vaidya Radha Yadav Renuka Thakur Anjali Sarvani Pooja Vastrakar Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Shikha PandeyEngland Heather Knight c Lauren Bell Maia Bouchier Alice Capsey Kate Cross Freya Davies Charlie Dean Sophia Dunkley Sophie Ecclestone Sarah Glenn Amy Jones Katherine SciverBrunt Nat SciverBrunt Lauren WinfieldHill and Danni WyattMatch starts 630 ISTThis 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