Senior India pacer Jhulan Goswami defends team's poor performance in the series after Smriti (62*) and Anuja (3-21) help hosts notch eight-wicket win over England
Smriti Mandhana during her 41-ball 62 not out at CCI yesterday. Pics/Suresh Karkera
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The Indian women's team would have realised their potential yesterday when all departments contributed to finally taste success. The eight-wicket win against England in the last league match of the T20 tri-series at the Brabourne Stadium yesterday was their first on home soil since November 2016. The win also ensured they ended a six-match losing streak across all formats. Although the Indian eves failed to make it to the final, the T20 tournament was a reality check as far as their preparation for the World T20 in November is concerned. What would have hurt the Indian women's team most is the manner in which those losses came about — without putting up a fight. However, yesterday's complete performance would have been pleasing.
Jhulan (left) has a chat with Anuja
Good learning curve
Considering that the Indian team has played only two T20I tournaments in the last one year, senior pacer Jhulan Goswami felt the team has done well in the tri-series despite registering just one win.
"We never said that we are going to win this competition. However, as a process for the World T20, we were seeing this as an important tournament. We were trying new players. As a team, the bowling and batting unit did not contribute together.
"When the batting unit performed, the bowling didn't. Considering our performance so far, I am happy because we scored 198 [against England on Sunday], which never happened before. We consistently scored 160 to 170 runs. The process has started for the World T20 and keeping that tournament in mind, we are settling on a combination," she said.
England bowled out early
England went hammer and tongs at the beginning, scoring 54-1 in the first Powerplay (six overs). Most of those runs came from the willow of Danielle Wyatt, who scored a 22-ball 31. However, Natalie Sciver's wicket in the 11th over sparked a batting collapse as England lost their next seven wickets for just 23 runs, and folded up for 107 in 18.5 overs.
The Indian spinners dominated the English batting line-up, sharing nine wickets among them. Anuja Patil was the pick of the bowlers with 3-21, while Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma claimed two wickets each.
Chasing 108, Smriti Mandhana made the most of a reprieve when she was dropped on 13. The talented southpaw smashed an unbeaten 62 off 41 balls to help India achieve the target with 4.2 overs to spare.
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