India’s batting innings never got the impetus, and they crawled to the target, taking as many as 18.5 overs to win the contest.
After an embarrassing defeat in their opening fixture against New Zealand, India took on arch-rivals Pakistan in their second game in Dubai. After being asked to field first, Indian bowlers bowled exceptionally well and fired as a unit to restrict Pakistan to a mere 105/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
During the chase, India were expected to bat quickly and complete the target as early as possible in order to improve their net run rate, which took a massive hit in the first defeat against New Zealand. They suffered a heavy 58-run defeat in the New Zealand game, taking their net run rate to -2.900.
However, their batting approach was lethargic, for batters never tried to up the ante and bat with intent. For instance, the openers didn’t try to take advantage of powerplay and hit boundaries, scoring only 25 runs while also losing the wicket of Smriti Mandhana.
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Their first boundary came during the eighth over when Shafali Verma tried to break the shackles, and the Indian team could only hit five boundaries during the chase and didn’t hit any sixes. Barring Harmanpreet Kaur and Sajeevan Sajana, no other batter had a strike rate of 100 or more.
India’s batting innings never got the impetus, and they crawled to the target, taking as many as 18.5 overs to win the contest. Their run rate in the innings was a mere 5.83, showing no desperation to chase down the target in fewer overs.
Given India have yet to play Australia, they should have tried to boost their net run rate as much as possible in this game, especially when the target was less than run-a-ball. Since they didn’t try batting quicker, their NRR still remains negative even after the win.
Fans and viewers were massively surprised by India’s approach, for they found their match awareness missing. The reactions around their insipid batting are aplenty.
Here are a few reactions:
They have an NRR of -1.217 and sit in the fourth position in their group after their win. They will now face Sri Lanka in their next contest and should look to earn a big win to improve their NRR and solidify their position.
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