India and Pakistan all set for intriguing opening-weekend face-off
Pakistan v India
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
Sunday 06 March, 2 PM Local Time
The headline meeting between the two great cricketing rivals will bring the curtain down on the opening set of matches of the round-robin group stage, and provide Pakistan with a chance to make history in Mount Maunganui.
The ten previous ODI meetings between these two sides have all been won by India. But the most recent of those matches came five years ago at the last World Cup (with India winning by 95 runs) and Pakistan are a much-improved outfit going into this tournament.
Bismah Maroof’s side have beaten both Bangladesh and New Zealand in their warm-up games since arriving in the country, building on impressive showings against Thailand and Zimbabwe in the qualifying tournament last November.
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But the magnitude of Sunday’s fixture dwarfs those matches, and Maroof – who returns to captain the side after maternity leave – has urged her players to focus on the basics.
"Pakistan versus India is indeed a great stage for any player to establish her credentials, but at the end of the day, it is a cricket match that has to be won by executing the basics right and keeping things simple," the skipper said.
"This match is a great opportunity to inspire millions of girls in Pakistan and India to take up this sport as a profession. It is the biggest rivalry, and attracts innumerable eyeballs. I hope girls in the two countries will watch this match and will be inspired to take up the game."
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As much as the opening match will be at the forefront of the minds of the Indian team, Mithali Raj and her players will have half an eye on what’s to come as they go in search of a first-ever Women’s World Cup title.
Only three countries have ever won the Women’s World Cup, and India are not one of them, with defeats in the 2005 and 2017 finals the closest they have come.
But Raj and her talented squad go into the 2022 edition as the fourth-ranked side in the world and among the teams expected to compete strongly for a semi-final berth.
From there just two knockout games would stand between India and World Cup history, but there’s the matter of a rivalry fixture against Pakistan to negotiate first before getting carried away.
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THE TEAMS
India Squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav
Pakistan Squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Nida Dar (vc), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nahida Khan, Nashra Sundhu, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Amin and Sidra Nawaz
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KEY PLAYERS
**Nashra Sundhu -**The slow left-armer is Pakistan's most reliable performer with the ball and her impressive average of just over 28 at international ODI level is testimony to this. Sundhu is sure to be used in the middle overs of an innings to try and quell the run rate of opposition teams.
**Jhulan Goswami -**The veteran Indian quick might be nudging closer to her 40th birthday, but Goswami still remains one of the most consistent seamers in women's cricket and her record in 50-over cricket supports this. Goswami picked up 10 wickets at the last ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in 2017 and remains one of the most feared bowlers in the game.
WHAT THEY SAID
Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof: “The conditions (in New Zealand) are quite different to what we are used to playing. Quite windy and quite bouncy.”
“I think we had good practice sessions but the warm-up games helped us get used to the conditions and prepare well. Our aim is to make it to the semi-finals, something which we have never done before. I strongly believe that this side has all the ingredients to achieve that.”
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India captain Mithali Raj: "We've tried some young talent in the squad, and most of them have shown that they have the ability to play at this level like Richa (Ghosh), Shafali (Verma), Meghna Singh, (and) Pooja Vastrakar.
"I tell them that you don't have the experience of the past World Cups, it's a clean slate for you, all you have to do is enjoy the big stage."
THE VENUE
This game is the second of seven matches scheduled to be held at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui over the course of the tournament.
The 10,000-seater stadium has hosted international fixtures since 2014, nine years after it was officially opened in Blake Park.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
All eight teams at the tournament will play each other across seven rounds in a league format.
The top four teams in the standings after the conclusion of the Group Stage will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in the final week of March.
Pakistan’s Nida Dar focused on giving all-round performances
LATER FIXTURES
India’s tournament fixtures:
6 March v Pakistan
10 March v New Zealand
12 March v West Indies
16 March v England
19 March v Australia
22 March v Bangladesh
27 March v South Africa
Pakistan’s tournament fixtures:
6 March v India
8 March v Australia
11 March v South Africa
14 March v Bangladesh
21 March v West Indies
24 March v England
26 March v New Zealand
