India's chance to arrest slide before Women's World Cup

[Nergal]

 

Can India break their duck in the final game in New Zealand © AFP
In the face of Amelia Kerr's batting exploits, India have been rendered answerless in the five-match ODI series so far. After five losses in as many limited-overs matches (1 T20I, 4 ODIs) in the ongoing New Zealand tour, on Thursday, they have the last opportunity to find success before the all-important 50-over world cup.

As the tour has progressed, India have found themselves with more questions than answers in the process. With constant concerns with injuries and positive cases of COVID-19, they haven't been able to field their best XI. But of what possibly looks like their best XI, except Richa Ghosh, and to an extent Mithali Raj's consistency, there isn't a lot for the visitors to cheer about despite having run New Zealand close in two of the four one-dayers. S Meghana's form has been a rare positive but it remains to be seen if there is place for her in the side.

Deepti Sharma's promotion as the vice captain in the face of Harmanpreet Kaur's barren run of scores opens up an interesting possibility for the Indian team. While she may not play the final match of the series, it also remains to be seen if the team wants to shape up for the world cup without the veteran all-rounder.

New Zealand too have been hit hard by COVID-19 cases in the team, but they've found more positives emerging out of the situation. Having been tested against arguably the third best team in world cricket, and not only being able to dominate them consistently while keeping up the experimentations, but also finding different players to bail the team out of tricky situations, is as good a preparation as they would've liked.

They will come into the final match of the series with not much riding on it, except the chance to keep up their high-flying momentum before the showpiece event. For India, a victory will offer a chance to shake off a string of defeats right in time for the World Cup.

When: New Zealand vs India, 5th ODI, February 24, 2022, 11 AM local time (3:30 AM IST)

Where: John Davies Oval, Queenstown

What to expect: A full day's play can be expected even as conditions will continue to remain cloudy, much like it was in the second and third ODIs. Yet again, a high-scoring encounter should be on the cards.

Team News:

New Zealand

Lea Tahuhu, Maddy Green and Fran Jonan missed the fourth ODI but should be available for the final match of the series. However, on a precautionary note, they may be rested. Meanwhile, Brooke Halliday has been ruled out of the match and New Zealand might stick with the same XI

Probable XI: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr, Amy Satterthwaite, Frances Mackay, Lauren Down, Katey Martin (wk), Hayley Jensen, Hannah Rowe, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair

India

Deepti Sharma is set to play as the vice captain, and Harmanpreet Kaur could sit out of the fifth match as well.

Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, S Meghana, Mithali Raj, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghana Singh, Poonam Yadav, Renuka Singh