The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 is being played in South Africa and the Indian women’s team has managed to enter the semi-finals of the tournament after defeating Ireland in the match which was played on 20 February 2023 at St. George’s Oval Stadium, Port Elizabeth.
The toss was won by team India and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur chose to bat first after winning the toss. The Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma (24 runs, 29 balls, 3 fours) gave a good start as they stitched a partnership of 62 runs for the first wicket but the Indian batting line-up fumbled as they both got out and India managed to put up a score of 155/6 on the board in its stipulated 20 overs.
Smriti Mandhana played a superb innings of 87 runs which she scored in 56 balls and her innings included 9 fours & 3 sixes for which she was adjudged as the Player of the Match but there was one more thing which left everyone in awe. We are talking about the similarities in the batting styles of Smriti Mandhana and former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly.
Sourav Ganguly is known as one of the most successful skippers of the country and he was also one of the best opening batters of his times. The Prince of Kolkata was called the God of offside but there was no shot in the cricket book which Sourav Ganguly couldn’t play.
A video has been shared by the International Cricket Council in which it has showed how Smiti Mandhana’s batting style is similar to the batting style of Sourav Ganguly as it compares how they both play various shots. The ICC shared the video with the caption, “The similarities are mind blowing”.
Watch The Video:
Click here to watch this video directly on Instagram
As far as the match between India and Ireland is concerned, rain interrupted the match and as per DLS method, Ireland needed 60 runs to win and it lost the match by 5 runs.
The Indian women’s team will be facing Australia in the first semi-final tomorrow (23 Feb 2023) at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town.
We wish the Indian women’s team all the best for the semi-finals and hopefully it will reach the finals and win the trophy as well!