Most punters probably would have been expecting another showdown between England and Australia to be the lineup for the Final of the World Cup. But instead, the hosts will have a battle against India on their hands as they toppled the Aussies in an epic semi final showdown. Hosts England arrived in the final first and have had a little extra rest, as they dispatched South Africa in a thrilling finale there.
So now the pressure is on to the final, where England are 4/7 odds on at Ladbrokes to take the title, with India out at 6/4. Of course, these two have already met in the round robin stage of the competition and in their opener, England slipped to a 35 run defeat against India. That was a shock result for the home nation, but it did at least spur them on to go and win each and every other game they played in the tournament.
So England Women will be out for some revenge at a sold-out Lord’s on Sunday.
England have had a pretty dominant run in the tournament since that opening defeat against India. Aside from tight squeezes against Australia and South Africa, the host nation have battered just about everyone else who have come into their way. They have four players inside the top nine top-run scorers in the tournament. So England do carry some massive threats with the bat, notably Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight, Sarah Taylor and Natalie Sciver. Twice during the tournament, England have broken the 370 barrier.
However, it is India’s Mithali Raj who is the top scorer in the tournament so far and she is a 5/2 price at Ladbrokes to top score for her country in the final. Going back to the England side of things, it’s a hard call really, but Nat Sciver has played some beautiful stuff at the tournament so far and she is a solid 3/1 punt to put the most runs on the board for the English in the final of the women’s Cricket World Cup. She has two centuries at the tournament so far and no-one betters her strike rate.
So will England have learned anything from that opening loss against India? In that match, India controlled England’s batting line up through spin and the Lords wicket has taken kindly to the spin attack this season. So there could be a tricky time ahead for the hosts here. Also, while England are powerful with the bat, their bowling attacking is all about containing and shutting off runs rather than being devastating through taking wickets.
But the key wicket for England to take will be that of Raj, but watch for Harmanpreet Kaur who produced arguably the greatest ever innings by a woman in ODI cricket when she fired 171 off 115 balls against Australia in the semi finals. India pretty much are a one-woman team when it comes to the batting but that innings by Kaur just shows that it only takes the right day, the right situation for someone unexpected to produce.
Women’s Cricket World Cup Final 2017 Predictions
Have a punt on Sciver to top score for England, while Raj is the obvious choice for India here. India have been a bit slow out of gates in matches, and they aren’t great at defending, so 4/6 on England to produce the highest fifteen overs is a good backup bet. Given that England have already lost to India and could face tricky spin again, England aren’t great value in the match outright. This should be an epic final and hopefully we great drama right down the wire. England should win this though given the power they have displayed with the bat but look beyond the match outright for value.
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