Women's T20 WC: Harmanpreet lauds India's performance following SL triumph
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has expressed her satisfaction with the team's performance in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup. She praised the team for "ticking all boxes" during their Group A match against Sri Lanka at Dubai International Stadium on October 9. The Indian women's cricket team secured a decisive victory over Sri Lanka, winning by 82 runs. This win propelled India past New Zealand to secure second place in Group A, with a net run rate of 0.560.
Kaur credits Verma and Mandhana for victory
Kaur credited the win to Shafali Verma (43) and Smriti Mandhana's (50) 98-run partnership, which laid the foundation for India's win. "We just wanted to go with the momentum, Shafali and Smriti gave us a good start," she said. She also stressed on their plan of keeping the scoring rate steady without losing wickets. Kaur was instrumental in the match, scoring a quickfire half-century off just 27 balls - the fastest by an Indian in Women's T20 World Cup history.
Kaur's strategy on tricky pitch
Kaur also admitted the challenges of the pitch and rotating the strike was the key. "This wicket was not true to batting, you have to keep rotating the strike," she said. Despite that, she scored a quickfire half-century off just 27 balls - the fastest by an Indian in Women's T20 World Cup history. Her performance helped India set a challenging total of 172 runs for Sri Lanka.
Kaur's satisfaction with team's performance
Following their dominating batting display, India's bowlers and fielders handed the team their biggest win in the tournament's history. "When you play good cricket, you always feel well. All boxes were ticked today," Kaur said. She also added that she was happy with how well their plans were executed in the match against Sri Lanka. Ahead of their next match against Australia, Kaur stressed they would need to keep this up to get another win.
Kaur's fitness and India's batting order
Ahead of the match against Sri Lanka, there were doubts over Kaur's fitness, after she hurt her neck in the previous match against Pakistan. However, she was cleared to play and she did exceptionally well. There was also uncertainty over India's No. 3 batting position with changes made during the Pakistan game. However, Smriti Mandhana clarified decisions over this role would depend on various factors including conditions and match situation.
