Day 19 Talking Points CWC22: India boost NRR with massive win, Lanning leads Australia with a century

Seddon Park, Hamilton - Match 22

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For the second time in the tournament, the lower-order partnership between Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar came to India's rescue at a crucial juncture.

Earlier in the tournament in India'S game against Pakistan, India were staring down the barrel at 114/6 when the two players came together. They stitched a match-winning partnership of 122 in 96 balls for the seventh wicket to propel India to 244, which eventually proved to be 107 runs too many for Pakistan.

Today in the game against Bangladesh, India found themselves in a spot of bother when the set batter Yastika Bhatia departed in the 43th over. At 176/6, India needed a strong finish and it was the duo of Rana and Vastrakar that once again answered the call. On a pitch that favoured shot-making, they found boundaries regularly and ran well between the wickets to add 48 runs in 38 balls for the eighth wicket.

The late flurry helped India post a good total on board given the conditions.

India were brilliant with the ball and restricted Bangladesh to 119 all out, winning the match by a massive margin of 110 runs. The margin of victory gave a massive boost to the net run-rate, which stands at +0.768, which at the moment, is only behind Australia's +1.287.

Amongst the teams placed below India, who currently occupy the third spot on the table, only England have a positive net-run-rate, meaning the rest of the teams have a lot of catching up to do in the few remaining games.

As the race of the final four spots heats up, the net run-rate could very well end up deciding which teams make it to the semi-finals. As such, India will be happy pleased with the margin of victory at this critical juncture in the competition.

Basin Reserve, Wellington - Match 21

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Ashleigh Gardner staked her claim for catch of the tournament with a spectacular one-hander just inside the rope to dismiss Mignon du Preez.

The 24-year-old tracked back quickly as a lofted shot from du Preez sailed toward the boundary but had to go one-handed as it looked like the ball would get away from her.

Gardner then did well to keep her feet and stomp the landing with the rope just a few steps away.

The all-rounder’s reaction was almost as good as the catch, as Gardner seemed amazed that she hung onto the ball, but it should be little surprise that this talented cricketer found another way to have a significant impact on the match.

Mignon du Preez was on the receiving end of Gardner’s classic catch but went some way to returning the favour with her own screamer to remove the in-form Rachael Haynes.

The former skipper had to cover plenty of ground running to her left just to get near the flat shot but made it just in time to fly high and get two hands around the ball.

A tight grasp kept the ball in du Preez’s hands even after a heavy landing to leave the crowd left to ponder whether the South African or Australian took the better of the two superb catches.

South Africa have had arguably the most potent pace attack at CWC22 with Marizanne****Kapp (10), Ayabonga Khaka (10) and Shabnim Ismail (9) each among the leading wicket-takers, but they had little answer for Meg Lanning’s dominance with the bat.

Australia were challenged for one of the few times in the tournament so far when they slipped to 45/2 in the 11th over but their captain soon took command to again lead a successful chase this time of 271 runs.

Lanning brought up her ton off 92 balls with 13 fours and a six, to make it 15 ODI centuries with a remarkable 10 of those coming as Australia batted second.

The 29-year-old reached three-figures after falling short with 86 in Australia’s CWC22 opener against England and 97 in their most recent match against India, and ended on 135* for the highest individual score so far in a masterful display.