NEW DELHI: Ahead of Thursday’s series finale in Navi Mumbai, India’s stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana reminded her teammates that the team’s five-year wait to win a T20I series at home did not “reflect” their ability.
India produced an impressive batting performance when put in to bat. As the hosts recorded their greatest T20I total of 217/4, Mandhana (77; 47b) laid the groundwork before Richa Ghosh (54; 21b) tied the record for the joint-quickest fifty.
India responded by limiting the West Indies to 157/9, winning the three-match series 2-1-their first home series win since 2019.
“After the last match, I told the girls it has been five years that we have not won a T20I series. That does not reflect the team we are,” Mandhana said.
“I told them that today, we have an opportunity to do that and we just want to keep doing the right things,” added Mandhana.
Mandhana continued her scorching form from the ODI series Down Under, where she scored a century in the final game, by hitting her third consecutive fifty.
“The batting line-up we had, there were a few youngsters coming in, so there was a bit of added responsibility and that kind of thing goes well if you really put your head into it, and when I do that, I probably bat better.”
“We lost all three tosses, so had to bat first and that is the harder thing to do (here). Really happy we could put up (a score) and loved the way Richa batted.”
On the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur, she said: “Harman has been a pillar in the middle-order. Whenever she is there, you know that if something happens, she will be there.”
She was also full of admiration for Raghvi Bist, a rookie who scored a superb 31 not out off of 22 balls.
“The girls stepped up beautifully. The way Raghvi batted was impressive. She came in with lots of intent and hitting her fourth or fifth ball for six, I would not have been able to do that in my second match.”
Richa, the player of the match, attributed the victory to the team’s solid start.
“We got a good start, the way everyone batted. I just wanted to continue that and whenever the ball was in my slot, I tried to hit it,” said Richa.
“In the nets, I think about the match and try to clear (the fence). If the ball is in my slot, whether it is the first ball or the last ball, it does not matter. It feels very good when you contribute (towards such a win and such a series victory).”
Hayley Matthews, the captain of the West Indies, acknowledged that their bowling lacked discipline on a challenging wicket.
“We probably did not bowl as well as we wanted to. It was one of those wickets where we had a very small margin for error. We were not on it with the ball and missed our lengths more often than we wanted,” Matthews said.
#Smriti #Mandhanas #pep #talk #inspired #India #home #series #win #Cricket #News #Times #India
