Day 13 Talking Points: England spinners and fielders step up, Jhulan Goswami topples yet another record

Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui- Match No.15

MATCH CENTRE|MATCH REPORT

India are traditionally more comfortable than most batting against spin but struggled to deal with England’s turners even on a flat track.

Soon after veteran Anya Shrubsole claimed two early wickets, England off-spinner Charlie Dean had both Harmanpreet Kaur and Sneh Rana caught behind in her first over to leave India reeling at 61/5.

Playing just her ninth ODI and second World Cup match the 21-year-old Dean ended with 4/23 for her career-best bowling figures and the second-best in 2022 edition so far.

Sophie Ecclestone, the newly-crowned no.1 bowler in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s ODI rankings, removed the in-form Smriti Mandhana to make it five crucial wickets for England’s spinners that helped turn the match in their favour and finally kickstart their World Cup title defence.

England’s fielding has often been poor in this World Cup and hit new lows when they dropped seven catches in the loss to the West Indies.

But the title-holders finally turned around their form in the field after Sophia Dunkley set the tone for an improved display by claiming a sharp, grass-high catch to dismiss Mithali Raj.

There was also some smart fielding from Kate Cross and Natalie Sciver to run out Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh respectively.

England still needs a lot to go right to earn a place in the semi-finals but getting the basics right in the field will only improve their chances of progressing.

Jhulan Goswami added yet another feather to her cap in the game against England, becoming the first female player to scalp 250 ODI wickets. She picked up the wicket of Tammy Beaumont, who was initially adjudged not out before DRS came to India's rescue, to achieve this feat.

In India's previous game against West Indies, she became the leading wicket-taker in ICC Women's World Cup history, surpassing the late Lyn Fullston who had 39 wickets.

Having made her ODI debut in January 2022, Goswami has shown no signs of slowing down and is still going strong as the leader of the Indian bowling attack. She went past Cathryn Fitzpatrick in 2017 for most ODI wickets over time, has considerably extended that lead.

Given the next active player – West Indies' Anisa Mohammed – is still 70 wickets away from Goswami's record of 250 wickets (and counting), it is going to take some effort to topple this record.