India Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur and West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews before the first T20 International cricket match of a series between India Women and West Indies Women, at D Y Patil Sports Stadium, in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit: PTI
India’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana assured that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is “doing fine” and is currently under medical supervision after leaving the field during their bowling defence in the first Women’s T20I against West Indies in Mumbai on Sunday.
Harmanpreet came out to bat and remained unbeaten on 13 but was off the field for most of India’s defence, with Smriti stepping in as captain in her absence.
“She (Harmanpreet) is doing fine. She is being taken care of by the medical team and hopefully will be fine soon,” Mandhana, who hit a 33-ball 54, said after India’s 49-run win.
The nature of her discomfort or the reason for leaving the field, however, was not clear.
Jemimah Rodrigues (73) and Smriti Mandhana (54) powered India to their highest-ever total of 195/4.
Reflecting on their performance, Mandhana said: “Uma (Chetry) came in and got us off to a good start, Jemi came in and continued that.
“Credit to the bowlers with so much dew around. Even after winning we have to go back and review where we can be better, yes, we could have got 200 today.
“We had Sajana, she was our 6th bowling option but our first five bowlers did a good job. She (Sajana) has been bowling really well in the domestic games as well, we definitely have the extra option.”
A little tough to keep mentally fresh: Jemimah
Architect of India’s dominating win over West Indies in the opening T20I, Jemimah Rodrigues on Sunday admitted it has been tough to keep mentally fresh after playing continuous cricket since the Australia tour.
India had suffered a 0-3 loss in ODIs in Australia and hardly had any time to prepare, with the final match ending on December 11. Rodrigues, who hit a 35-ball 73, had dropped Deandra Dottin (52) in the 14th over.
“I am really happy but more happy that Radha took that catch (of Dottin) after Smriti and I dropped her. It’s been a lot of cricket lately. A little tough to keep mentally fresh.” Reflecting on her innings, Rodrigues said: “Yesterday I had a chat with Smriti about how to pace my innings. My game plan was simple. Singles off every ball. Loose balls are a bonus. Sir had told me to bat through the end, so my plan was to take it five overs at a time.
“We could have pushed for another ten runs because we know what we get against West Indies, because of Dottin and even Joseph. I am proud of the way we bowled with the dew.” West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews admitted they didn’t bowl well and were left to chase too many runs in the end.
“We were probably a bit loose with the ball. Also, let ourselves down in the field. But there were some positives like Qiana striking the ball, Dottin coming in and giving us hope,” she said.
“The girls have had a few days to know the conditions, it didn’t show with the ball but the preparation has been pretty good leading up to the series.
“We back ourselves to chase anything but yes they got 15-20 runs too many. There were a few too many massive overs that got away from us.”
The second T20I is scheduled on Tuesday.
Published – December 16, 2024 04:35 am IST