Yet to fully fire, England’s chances dampen in World Cup

After nearly three weeks of round-robin matches, Australia sit top of the Women’s World Cup table, having already qualified for the semi-finals. South Africa have shimmied up to second – but only after England rustled them out for 69 in their first match. And England? England hover in third, ready to leap up if they beat India today. But the zero in their Lost column isn’t the entire story.

Hearty wins from the first three games were a timely morale booster after late summer losses to India, with Sophie Ecclestone and her spinning company proving a stiff challenge. But the batting has hobbled alongside – untested by South Africa, propped up by Heather Knight against Bangladesh and Nat Sciver-Brunt against Sri Lanka. Pakistan waited in Colombo on Wednesday, having never beaten England in a women’s ODI.

That win remains elusive, but only just – as England were saved by the rain. Pakistan had reduced Australia to 76 for seven the week before, and England were in similar trouble after Pakistan chose to bowl.

England were routed by a prestigiously swinging ball in humid conditions, as Pakistan honed in on the stumps – captain Fatima Sana finishing with four for 27. All of England’s top seven were lbw or bowled – something so rare that statisticians last identified it, in any format, in 1908.

A nadir of 78 for seven became 133 for nine thanks to 33 from Charlie Dean, but Pakistan were well into their Duckworth-Lewis-Stern chase of 113 from 31 overs when the clouds burst over Colombo, leaving England to thank the ICC for hosting in monsoon season.

“We’ve spoken about it, we’d be silly not to,” said England coach Charlotte Edwards on Saturday, “but one of my messages is not to dwell. We’re in a new venue, against a new team. We’re in a really good position – if someone had offered me this after three games I’d have take it. Our best cricket is in front of us.

“We know how tough a challenge it will be to be here tomorrow in front of a massive crowd all cheering for India, with two important points up for grabs. ”

Finding their game voice could mean bringing in Danni Wyatt-Hodge for the business end of the tournament or shifting Emma Lamb up to open where she was so successful in domestic cricket this summer. Edwards is reluctant to meddle with her lineup, but Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones are yet to fully fire.

The pitches at Indore, where England face India, and Australia, promise to be flat and well behaved. Opposing captains and Mumbai Indians teammates Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet Kaur know each other inside out, and Sciver-Brunt is also helped by the knowledge of Edwards who guided MI to two WPL titles as head coach. England know that if they can deflate India today, or steal a win off Australia, or New Zealand a week today, they will be through to the semi-finals.

India’s progress has not been the smooth sailing many of their fans were hoping for – the loss to Australia was half expected, the loss to South Africa was not. Their fielding has been sloppy at times, their batting order inflexible, while debate rages over whether they need a sixth bowler. They need to beat two, possibly three of their remaining opponents – England, New Zealand and Bangladesh - to stay in the game.

A sell-out crowd at Indore will roar India all the way against England, but crowds for the early matches not involving India have been indifferent. At times, fans have rattled around the huge stadiums- Vizag fits 25,000, Guwahati 45,000, Trivandrum 50,000 and Indore 30,000, similar to Lord’s.

Online, however, things are flying. The ICC reported that “the first 13 matches of the tournament reached over 60 million viewers, a five-fold increase over the 2022 edition,” while India’s thrashing of Pakistan was the most-watched women’s international match of all time.

Elsewhere, New Zealand still have a chance of qualifying, thanks to Sophie Devine, who is bowing out of her last tournament with a bang.

Meanwhile Bangladesh, who qualified for this tournament ahead of West Indies, have more than punched their weight.

They were unlucky with umpiring decisions against England – one of a handful of matches where the inexperience of some of the ICC panel has been exposed. Three of the ten TV umpires had never before been TV umpires in an ODI with DRS - and it showed.

Photograph by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP