Headingley has a history of producing humdingers.

It was here that England defeated Australia by one wicket in the third Test of the 2019 Ashes. A Ben Stokes miracle gave cricket one of its greatest matches. But the 1981 Ashes Test — thanks to Ian Botham’s century, following on, and Bob Willis’ fiery fast bowling – remains even more famous.

Though nobody quite expects such a finish like that on Wednesday, when India takes on the Netherlands in the Women’s T20 World Cup, the players are sure to cherish their experience of playing on this fabled venue: this is only the second Women’s T20I here. The seamers on either side would be particularly keen to see how the ball behaves on the ground where the bowlers of their ilk have had a lot of success in the past, because of the overhead conditions, though recently runs have flowed freer.

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The Women in Blue had arrived in England as one of the tournament’s strong favourites, and they justified the billing with their comprehensive victory against Pakistan at Edgbaston on Sunday. Though Smriti Mandhana’s return to form must have given some relief to the team management, and Harmanpreet Kaur also played alongside her sensibly to overcome the loss of two early wickets, it wasn’t the most of convincing of batting performances until Richa Ghosh’s visit to the crease, that is.

Her 17-ball 34 made all the difference in the end. It was only at the last warm-up match before the tournament got underway, against England, that the wicketkeeper-batter finally found her touch. India’s fortunes could depend on her clean hitting.

Bharti Fulmali, who was also expected to do something similar, lasted just three balls against Pakistan. It would be interesting to see if India, in this early stage of the tournament, tries out Yastika Bhatia, who has the technique to stabilise an innings if required and has the also shots to make use of the PowerPlay.

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Deepti Sharma, now T20I’s leading bowler of all time, will like to spearhead the Indian attack from where she left off at Birmingham, which is just a two-hours-and-a-half drive away through some scenic places. It will be interesting to see how the inexperienced Netherlands side take on the seasoned off-spinner and other bowlers.

The Dutch women could do with another fine knock from their captain Babette de Leede, whose 50 helped them make a match of it against Bangladesh on their World Cup debut.

Published on Jun 16, 2026