ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, Preview: England, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies battle on super Sunday

After a gap of two days, one will see as many as four riveting matches in the competition take place on Sunday, making it a ‘Super Sunday’.

The ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 in England has so far produced good cricketing action for all to witness and this upcoming week looks no different. After a gap of two days, one will see as many as four riveting matches in the competition take place on Sunday, making it a ‘Super Sunday’. Two of the most highly anticipated matches will see arch-rivals India take on Pakistan and Australia take on their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand. Apart from these, hosts England will go up against Sri Lanka, while South Africa will face World T20 2016 winners West Indies.

You can read the India-Pakistan match’s preview here, while we preview the remaining three matches in this piece below.

Australia vs New Zealand at Bristol: Firm favourites Australia trampled past West Indies and Sri Lanka with ease showing their might in the process. Nicole Bolton and Meg Lanning have ably led the batting with their middle order has hardly dropped a sweat. The bowling too has looked in fine touch with Ellyse Perry and Kristen Beams taking charge. Even though the bowling unit was a bit under the pump against Sri Lanka when Chamari Atapattu was going berserk, Australia prevailed none the less.

New Zealand, on the other hand, remain untested after their second match was abandoned. Suzie Bates and Holly Huddlestone starred for them with a ton and 5-for. Against Australia, the batting line-up will be put on rough waters, while the likes of Lea Luhuhu and Sophie Devine will look to up their game against Bolton and co.

England vs Sri Lanka at Taunton:

This match will be all about batting, as it will see Heather Knight go up against Chamari Atapattu. Both have been in scintillating form with the bat, scoring hundreds in the last outing. England look more stable in the batting with almost all their top-order batters getting runs, while Sri Lanka have been heavily dependent on Chamari. Nipuni Hansika and Prasadani Weerakkody did shine with the bat in their first match, but will need to up their A game on Sunday.

Sri Lanka’s bowling will rely much on their spinners who are yet to find rhythm, while England will depend upon Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole. England’s batting looked vulnerable against Indian spinners and Sri Lanka will look to exploit that weakness.

South Africa vs West Indies at Leicester:

South Africa came in the competition with much hype around that somewhat fizzled out in their tie against Pakistan, which they managed to win by 3 wickets after almost making a mess of it. Laura Wolvaardt and Lizelle Lee carried their warm-up form in the main event, while Mignon du Preez gained hers. Much of the overall composition of the batting will depend on Trisha Chetty and Marizanne Kapp, who of late have struggled for runs. Much of the bowling rests on the shoulders of Shabnim Ismail and Sune Luus, who have been in terrific from since the start 2017.

West Indies, on the other side, have truck loads of problems to take care of. Their often-imploding batting is the most worrying factor for them. Only Hayley Matthews has been consistent across both matches. Stefaine Taylor, Deandra Dottin and Chedean Nation have to take over the batting mantle.

Their bowling has been below par picking just 5 wickets for 391 runs. Shamilia Connell and Anisa Mohammed have to bring their A game as soon as possible for West Indies to have any hopes of remaining in play.