"Mithali Raj's approach is pulling India down" - Fans disheartened after India's defeat against New Zealand in Women's World Cup 2022

Mithali Raj and Co. failed to get the better of hosts New Zealand in India’s second game of the ongoing Women’s World Cup on Thursday. Chasing a target of 261, team India were bowled out for 198, falling 62 runs short.The Indian bowlers did a great job of restricting the hosts to below 300 after the kind of start that they had. However, the batters failed to back it up and their lack of intent once again lead India lose the game.

Here are some of the fan’s reactions:

In a chase of 261, where the Reqd RR is 5.22, Mithali batted 56 balls at a run rate of 3.32, while Yastika batted 59 balls for a run rate of 2.84. That's 19.1 overs batted at a run rate of 3.07.

Very difficult to chase 260 like this. #CWC22

— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) March 10, 2022

Mithali's approach is what is pulling India down. Single handedly arrests momentum and leaves others with too much to do. In 220-225 chases, it works. In 250-275 games, only Harmanpreet and Smriti are match winners. #WomensDay #women #MithaliRaj #Indian

— Shashwat Kumar (@Shashwat_68) March 10, 2022

https://twitter.com/CamlinTweets/status/1501788547581636608?t=ATOM04mXfgMyINcqmKnG6Q&s=19

A wonderful innings from Harmanpreet comes to an end. The top and middle order failures meant, india was never in the match. The first 20 overs show how they never showed the intent to chase it.#INDvNZ

— The Cricket Philosopher (@outof22yards) March 10, 2022

India chose to bowl first and wanted to make the new ball count. They picked up a couple of quick wickets, but all-rounders Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite put up a strong 67-run stand for the third wicket. The White Ferns looked set for a big score but the likes of Pooja Vastrakar bowled excellently at the death, ending up with figures of 4/34. New Zealand still had a decent total on the board and the Women in Blue needed a great start from their openers. However, that was not to be as both Smriti Mandhana and Bhatia struggled for timing from the get-go. Lea Tahuhu was great with the new ball as the hosts conceded just 50 runs in the first 20 overs.This left a lot of pressure on the Indian middle order to score quickly. Mithali once again could not provide any impetus to the Indian chase and was left disappointed with her effort.