India-W bully Netherlands-W with all-round domination in T20 World Cup 2026
The Indian women made it two wins in two games in the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, vanquishing the Netherlands in their second group stage game. Another commanding all-round performance from the Women in Blue sealed the fate of the game in Leeds. With the win over the Netherlands, India also leapfrogged Australia for now to climb into the pole position with a net run-rate of +3.975 on the points table.
Winning the toss, Netherlands opted to bowl first. Much to their woes, the decision proved to be an absolute catastrophe as the Indian opening duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma descended upon them with heavy artillery. Mandhana (74) commandeered the charge while Verma (55) was in equally brilliant shape.
The opening duo of Mandhana and Verma added 115 runs from just 70 balls before Heather Siegers could finally apply the brakes. Mandhana continued her assault alongside an incoming Jemimah Rodrigues and the Indian team motored along perfectly.
However, Smriti's wicket sparked a middle-order slide, slowing things down for the Women in Blue. Caroline de Lange claimed Mandhana's wicket, and she was followed shortly by Jemimah Rodrigues (19) and Yastika Bhatia (3). Just when it felt that it might affect India’s scoring rate, Richa Ghosh arrived in the center.
Being the powerhouse she is, she started smacking and got to 20* off just eight balls while Deepti Sharma’s two boundaries in the last two balls of the innings saw India rack up 209/5 at the end of their 20 overs. Caroline de Lange was the pick of the lot for Netherlands with figures of 2/32.
With a huge total on the board to chase, Netherlands couldn’t really get the rollicking start that they were hoping for. Heather Siegers (21) and Phebe Molkenboer (15) got the wheels rolling but not at the rate they anticipated. Nandani Sharma drew first blood for India as she removed Siegers.
Deepti Sharma struck her sixth wicket of the tournament, ejecting Molkenboer from the equation shortly after. Shafali Verma breached through the defences Sterre Kalis (18) who looked good alongside a warring Babette de Leede (28). Once Babette was sent back to the pavilion by Nandani Sharma, that was the beginning of the end for the Orange Army.
They lost their last seven wickets in a span of just 18 runs. Sree Charani emerged as the leading wicket-taker for India in the game, claiming four scalps. She removed Robine Rijke (8), Frederique Overdijk (9), Iris Zwilling (8) and Myrthe van den Raad (0) to clean up the Dutch resistance.
As India registered a win by 95 runs, Charani’s figures of 4/19 stood out from the others while she had support from Shafali Verma who chimed in with three wickets. Smriti Mandhana won the Player of the Match award for her incredible batting performance. India returns to action on Sunday where they take on South Africa in what has been their toughest challenge in the ongoing World Cup until now.
