Indian bowling coach Troy Cooley is optimistic about the return of star opener Smriti Mandhana during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup match against the West Indies on Wednesday. India and the West Indies will engage horns in their Group 2 clash of the tournament in Cape Town on Wednesday. India is second in the points tally with one win in one game and two points, below England, who have two wins in two and a total of four points. The 26-year-old sat out India’s opening match, a seven-wicket win over Pakistan, due to a finger injury. But India’s star opener looks set to return for the clash at Newlands, having come through a pre-match training session unscathed.
“She has been working very hard and she will be judged after training,” said Cooley as quoted by ICC.
“She did everything that needed to be done and we’re pretty sure she came through the session well,” the coach added.
Jemimah Rodrigues stepped up during Mandhana’s absence against Pakistan, firing an unbeaten 53 from 38 deliveries to take her side past their arch-rivals with an over to spare.
Cooley was delighted to start on the front foot and had words of reassurance for Deepti Sharma who saw her four overs cost 39 in Sunday’s match.
“She bowled three overs in the power play and one on death with three fielders out. We know these are high pressure situations but who better to give the ball to than someone like Deepti? She’s an exceptional player.” said Cooley.
“The girls are very good at judging their own performance and are very open to input. Deepti is one of our key players and she will go out for a few runs on some days, that’s the nature of T20, but she bowled in high-pressure situations and we believe she did well,” the coach added.
The West Indies are well aware of the threat posed by Sharma, who was influential in the two tri-series meetings between the sides in January.
Sharma followed up the numbers of two for 29 by taking three for 11 as India triumphed by 56 runs and eight wickets respectively, leaving the West Indies looking to upset the form book as they look for a first win of the competition.
“We know where we went wrong [in the tri-series]said WI wicketkeeper Rashada Williams.
“We know where we came up short so it’s up to us to go there and show up on the day. India will come hard and they are more aggressive in their last part of their innings so it’s up to us to take control to hold.” play the game as long as possible, especially in the last five, because we know they’re going to have a hard time.”
“We have to try and limit them by bowling in the right areas,” Williams concluded.
The West Indies were beaten by England in their opener, leaving the 2016 champions under no illusions about the challenge ahead if they want to target the final stages this time around.
“After losing our first game, it’s important that we come out and perform as well as we can against India. We need everyone to be in their A-game,” Williams concluded.
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