Smriti Mandhana, the vice-captain, attributed India’s six-wicket loss to England in the third Twenty20 International on their inability to bowl enough dot balls and expressed hope that they wouldn’t make the same error in the forthcoming Women’s T20 World Cup.
With a 2-1 comeback in the three-match series, England damaged India’s preparation for the ICC marquee event.
“We definitely started extremely well with the ball, (reducing England to) 35 for 3. I wouldn’t really take anything away from the partnership they had. I think they played really good cricketing shots,” PTI quoted Mandhana as saying at the post-match press conference.
Following an early wobble, Alice Capsey (82) and Heather Knight (70 not out) formed a 137-run partnership for the fourth wicket to help England reach the target of 181.
“In hindsight, we would have been able to build pressure with a few dot balls, but we were not able to do that. We will definitely look at this game in a way where we can do better and not repeat these mistakes in the World Cup coming ahead,” she added.
The left-handed opener drew some positives from the series, including captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s return to form, despite the loss. India reached 180 for five thanks to a 40-ball 56 from Harmanpreet.
“She batted amazingly well. Harman, when she is at her best, is a delight to watch. She played all over the ground. It’s a really important innings under pressure, especially when we needed that knock to get us to 180+.
“I feel everyone is in good nick. It is a good sign going forward for the World Cup that Jemi, Harman, everyone is looking really beautiful to watch from the outside. Hopefully, I can watch from the non-strikers end,” she said.
On June 14, India will play Pakistan in Birmingham to begin their World Cup campaign.
However, the 29-year-old Mandhana insisted that the team concentrate on the World Cup in its totality rather than buying into the excitement around a cricket match between India and Pakistan.
“We did play India-Pakistan at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (2022) and we had a sellout. Not only India-Pakistan, I just feel we really need to hype up the T20 World Cup. We don’t need to hype up only one match. It is already hyped up. I am sure a lot of people are going to come and support us. Hopefully, we can put up a show for them,” said Mandhana.
