CWC 2022 India vs West Indies: Women in blue face the Caribbean juggernaut

Led by Mithali Raj, India Women take on West Indies Women in a crucial ICC Women's Cricket World Cup encounter at Seddon Park, Hamilton. India lost to New Zealand by 62 runs in the last game

The Indian Women's cricket team was hit hard by a damaging 62 run loss against home side New Zealand in their second ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022. After an easy win in their first match against arch-rivals Pakistan, India's confidence was really high, but that would have gone down considerably after the huge loss. But what they face ahead of themselves is no less than a juggernaut from the Caribbean. The West Indies Women, India's next opponents have defeated two bigwigs in New Zealand and England in their first two games. 

Thus Mithali Raj's India, by no means can even blink an eye when they face the Stephanie Taylor led West Indian team at the Seddon Park in Hamilton on March 12, 2022. 

Hayley Matthews, Deandra Dottin and Anisa Mohammed: West Indies' deadly trio

The West Indies team has been able to defend scores of 259 and 226 against New Zealand and England respectively. In both those games, West Indies were on the brink of a loss and it was moments of brilliance that helped them win it. While in the first game, it was Deandra Dotting who defended six runs in the last over, Anisa Mohammed was able to dismiss two English batters in a space of four balls to win West Indies the second game. 

Hayley Matthews on the other hand has contributed in a massive way for her team in both the games as she struck a century and picked two wickets in the first game and then picked two wickets and scored 45 runs against England too. Thus she has been a consistent player and could be a thorn in India's chances. 

India can't afford to lose this vs West Indies

For India to be able to get to the semi-final stage of this World Cup, they had to win at least four games which were against Pakistan, Bangladesh, West Indies and South Africa to get to the semi-finals. Now, with West Indies already winning against New Zealand and England and more than capable enough of beating Pakistan and Bangladesh, the competition is now wide open amongst all teams and hence a loss here could mean a secure seat for West Indies in the semi-finals and a slot of pressure on India from hereon to not even lose against heavyweights like England and Australia. 

India Women vs West Indies Women Seddon Park Pitch Report

The pitch at Seddon Park in Hamilton has been good for chasing though, in the last game, India Women were not able to chase it out. World Cup brings with it the pressure and hence runs on the board always matter a lot. West Indies themselves are a prime example of it. Thus India should look to bat first after winning the toss. That would test West Indies and would help India's cause as its bowling has proven its worth in both the games that the women in blue have played so far. The pitch would most likely assist the spinners in the second innings as well. 

India vs West Indies Hamilton Weather Update

The biggest weather update from Hamilton is that there are no chances of rain and the game would be played uninterrupted. The temperatures would also be akin to the subcontinent at this time of the year as they would hover between 27 Degree Celcius to 18 Degree Celcius from 02:00 pm to 10:00 pm Local Time, the timing for the match.

India Women vs West Indies Women Head to Head

Format	Matches	IND Women  Won	WI Women Won
ODIs Overall	25	20	05
In World Cup (ODIs)	06	06	00

India Women Predicted Playing 11

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma/Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

West Indies Women Predicted Playing 11

Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews, Kycia Knight, Stafanie Taylor (c), Shemaine Campbelle (wk), Chedean Nation, Chinelle Henry, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Anisa Mohammed, Shakera Selman

India Women Squad CWC 2022

Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt) Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Taniya Bhatia, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Travelling reserves: S Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur

West Indies Women Squad CWC 2022

Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews, Kycia Knight, Stafanie Taylor (c), Shemaine Campbelle (wk), Chedean Nation, Chinelle Henry, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Anisa Mohammed, Shakera Selman, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Rashada Williams, Cherry Ann Fraser