Bengaluru: There were a whopping 141 dot balls during India’s 265 for eight in their opening 50-over match of the all format series against South Africa here on Sunday. Besides, the hosts had lost their first five wickets before the total on scoreboard read 100 on a pitch and a small outfield where batters needed no second invitation.
Despite the comfortable margin of win -- thanks largely to centurion Smriti Mandhana and the collective effort of the bowling unit -- the batting problems were too glaring to be ignored. And addressing this issue will be the prime focus for coach Amol Muzumdar and team heading into the second ODI with a 1-0 lead at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday.
Among the Indian batting lot, the onus will be on Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh. Expectations remain high from the young brigade - all in their early 20s with 20-something ODIs under their belt - to bring in their free flowing brand of cricket. Never the one to shy away from shouldering responsibility, Harmanpreet, however, has made little noise with the bat of late. While not yet in the zone of ‘alarming’, an innings of 39 being the highest in her previous nine outings, doesn’t instill confidence in the ranks. All eyes, therefore, will be on the skipper to see if she can dust away the rust.
The Indian bowlers, on the other hand, will enter the ground looking to replicate the positive show they put up in the first of the three-match ODI leg. Collectively, they delivered 158 dot balls apart from bowling out the South Africans to 122 in 37.4 overs. Asha Sobhana, India’s oldest debutant at 33 years, will hope to capitalise the turn the wicket has to offer once again.
Pooja Vastrakar had issues with the knee while fielding that forced her to leave the game. Though there was uncertainty surrounding her availability, the pacer was seen bowling during India’s ‘nets’ session on Tuesday evening.
With qualification points for the 50-over WC up for grabs, Laura Wolvaardt-led visitors have their own obstacles to tend to, especially the batting unit. The skipper (4 runs) and the rest of the top-order except Sune Luus (33) never really brought in their A game. But inspiration isn’t too far away as the last time the Proteas were on the Indian shores, they had sealed the ODI series 4-1.
A lot has changed for both teams since then though. Expect another cracking contest provided the clouds hovering over the city decide to remain silent.