Time for Harmanpreet to deliver in big games like Healy: Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain on Friday said Harmanpreet Kaur boasts of a fantastic World Cup record and it's time the Indian women's team skipper delivers like her Australian counterpart Alyssa Healy. Harmanpreet has endured a poor run in the Women's World Cup so far, scoring 71 runs in four games, with her deputy Smriti Mandhana (134 runs) and Pratika Rawal (180) doing the bulk of the scoring at the top. But with India in a spot of bother after losing two close matches, against South Africa and Australia, the hosts are currently at fourth spot in the points table, and a slip from hereon will dash their World Cup hopes at home. India will next face England at Indore on Sunday, a match where Hussain expects the Harmanpreet-led middle-order to fire and provide support to Mandhana and Rawal. ''Like I said, Harmanpreet has a fantastic World Cup record. The bigger the game, just like Alyssa Healy, in the last couple of games before the match against India, the stats had come off a little bit, but in the two big games, she suddenly delivers. I expect the same from the Indian captain, really,'' Hussain said during JioHotstar Press Room ahead of the India-England match.

Hussain, however, begs to differ that India have been overdependent on their openers -- Mandhana and Rawal -- in the tournament. ''I think Harleen (Deol) has been okay; she has been consistent. I saw a tweet the other day comparing strike rates. I would just say to be careful when comparing strike rates. When you are batting in the powerplay and opening in the powerplay, your strike rate would be higher compared to middle-order batters. ''So, just be careful when comparing strike rates. I don't think India are over reliant on their openers,'' the Englishman said. Seven-time champions Australia have already sealed their semifinal spot, and the fight for the remaining three places is between India, England, South Africa, and New Zealand. And, wins against England and New Zealand will virtually seal India's semifinal spot. Hussain said the two close defeats have made every remaining match a knock-out for India. ''They have lost two on the bounce now, every game nearly, they have to play like a knockout game and in knockout games, your big players come. ''Jemimah Rodrigues has scored runs down the order, while Deepti (Sharma) has also performed well down the order. In the first game against Sri Lanka, people down the order were getting runs,'' said Hussain.

''So, I don't think they are heavily reliant on 1-2 players. Just in the field, maybe, when someone gets going like Alyssa Healy the other day, say Nat Sciver-Brunt gets going on Sunday, that's when who is going to come and break the partnership. I think Deepti is the one you go to as a partnership breaker. For England, it might be Sophie Ecclestone,'' he added.