Common Wealth Games 2022: India qualified for the semi-finals of the Common Wealth Games Cricket 2022 after beating Barbados by 100 runs in the last group match at Edgbaston, Birmingham. India, Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan belonged to Group-A where India become the second team to make the final four from Group-A after Australia.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Renuka Singh were the star performers in the game where Jemimah hit an unbeaten 56 that led India to post a total of 162 runs. With Renuka’s exhilarating performance, India restricted Barbados to 62 for eight in 20 overs while chasing a total of 163 runs.
Earlier, Barbados women won the pivotal toss and invited India women to bat first. Barbados started well with the ball by getting rid of Smriti Mandhana (5/7) in the 2nd over itself. But then Jemimah arrived in the second over and built a strong stand with Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma. As usual, Shafali scored a quick 43 off 26 before she went out in the middle.
Shafali’s 43 and Jemimah’s 56 were the two-standout performances from the Indian side. Even though the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Taniya Bhatia failed to contribute runs, Deepti Sharma’s cameo entry helped India cross the 160-runs mark. Deepti scored 34 runs off 28 balls.
Shanika Bruce, Hayley Matthew, and Shakera Selman took a wicket each for Barbados.
While Barbados has a big target to chase, India Women got off to a perfect start with Renuka Singh. She got rid of the most dangerous Barbados opener Deandra Dottin in the first over itself. Singh continued her hunting in the next overs and easily demolished the top order of Barbados women. She dismissed Hayley Matthews (9), Kycia Knight (3), and Aaliyah Alleyne (0) in nine overs. At the end of the powerplay, Barbados was reeling at 20 for 4.
Renuka’s outstanding figures of 4 for 10 in her four overs restricted Barbados to 62. Harmanpreet’s 8 bowlers never give a chance to Barbados women batters to settle in and build a partnership. Only two of their players scored over 10 runs. With 16 runs, Kyshona Knight is the top scorer for Barbados.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, and Radha Yadav scored a wicket each.
Barbados were dismissed for 64 in their nine-wicket defeat against Australia in the previous match. Now after the second defeat against India, Barbados lost their chance to cross the line to the semi-finals.
Even though India failed the first group match against Australia in a small change, the second match was a powerful one with Pakistan. In the second match, India crushed Pakistan by 8 wickets. With three consecutive failures, Pakistan also went back in despair.
With a stylish and powerful win against Barbados, India secured a spot in the semi-finals. On Saturday, India will meet New Zealand vs England group-match winner in the semi-finals. If India continues the winning race in the semi-finals, India will be the finalist to compete for the first-ever gold medal in the Common Wealth Games Women’s Cricket. Now let’s wait for the Group-B matches to know more about the semi-finalists.
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