NEW DELHI: The stand-in captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, Smriti Mandhana expressed satisfaction with the performance of the middle-order batters against Nepal in the women’s Asia Cup group stage match on Tuesday.
With the regular captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, resting for the game and India comfortably leading the group, Mandhana decided to reshuffle the batting order to provide valuable game time to the middle-order batters.
Mandhana, typically an opener, did not open the innings, allowing Shafali Verma (81) and Dayalan Hemalatha (47) to open the batting. The duo laid a solid foundation with a 122-run partnership in 14 overs.
Subsequently, S Sajana (10) and Jemmimah Rodrigues (28) contributed to India’s total of 178/3, which proved sufficient as Nepal could only manage 96/9 in their 20 overs, resulting in an 82-run defeat.
Mandhana acknowledged the importance of providing game time to the middle-order batters, who had limited opportunities in previous matches and the recent South Africa series.
“As an opener, you don’t get a lot of games where you don’t bat. Much needed game time for all the other batters. The middle order hasn’t batted in the previous games. The conditions were different and it is always good to have game time under your belt. The middle order didn’t get time in the South Africa series as well, so good they could spend some time in the middle,” Mandhana said during the post-match presentation.
Despite India’s comprehensive victory over Bangladesh in a recent away series, Mandhana cautioned against complacency, emphasizing the need to approach each opponent with equal focus and preparation.
“Not only this tournament, but also in the last five or six months, the preparations started post WPL, there are a lot of fine tuning to be done and we have to keep improving, cannot go into a World Cup under prepared. You don’t take any team (semifinal opponents) lightly, we have two days to rest and practice before we go out and apply ourselves,” she added.
Shafali Verma, adjudged the player of the match for her blistering 48-ball 81, attributed her consistent performance to backing her strengths and executing her plans effectively.
“Double hundred is big for any batter and I got plenty of confidence from that innings, I wasn’t in good form before that but the innings helped me get back my confidence,” Shafali stated.
Nepal’s captain, Indu Barma, expressed pride in her team’s efforts and acknowledged the valuable lessons learned from their matches against India and Pakistan.
“I am proud of my team. The effort we put in, we realised our weakness and will come back stronger. It was a great exposure to play against India. I am happy with my team, after 10 overs the bowlers got good momentum and restricted them to below 200. We got good experience from this tournament by playing against India and Pakistan. We made some good memories,” she said.
Barma praised her team’s efforts in restricting India to below 200 runs after the 10-over mark and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to create memorable experiences by competing against formidable opponents like India and Pakistan.
With the regular captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, resting for the game and India comfortably leading the group, Mandhana decided to reshuffle the batting order to provide valuable game time to the middle-order batters.
Mandhana, typically an opener, did not open the innings, allowing Shafali Verma (81) and Dayalan Hemalatha (47) to open the batting. The duo laid a solid foundation with a 122-run partnership in 14 overs.
Subsequently, S Sajana (10) and Jemmimah Rodrigues (28) contributed to India’s total of 178/3, which proved sufficient as Nepal could only manage 96/9 in their 20 overs, resulting in an 82-run defeat.
Mandhana acknowledged the importance of providing game time to the middle-order batters, who had limited opportunities in previous matches and the recent South Africa series.
“As an opener, you don’t get a lot of games where you don’t bat. Much needed game time for all the other batters. The middle order hasn’t batted in the previous games. The conditions were different and it is always good to have game time under your belt. The middle order didn’t get time in the South Africa series as well, so good they could spend some time in the middle,” Mandhana said during the post-match presentation.
Despite India’s comprehensive victory over Bangladesh in a recent away series, Mandhana cautioned against complacency, emphasizing the need to approach each opponent with equal focus and preparation.
“Not only this tournament, but also in the last five or six months, the preparations started post WPL, there are a lot of fine tuning to be done and we have to keep improving, cannot go into a World Cup under prepared. You don’t take any team (semifinal opponents) lightly, we have two days to rest and practice before we go out and apply ourselves,” she added.
Shafali Verma, adjudged the player of the match for her blistering 48-ball 81, attributed her consistent performance to backing her strengths and executing her plans effectively.
“Double hundred is big for any batter and I got plenty of confidence from that innings, I wasn’t in good form before that but the innings helped me get back my confidence,” Shafali stated.
Nepal’s captain, Indu Barma, expressed pride in her team’s efforts and acknowledged the valuable lessons learned from their matches against India and Pakistan.
“I am proud of my team. The effort we put in, we realised our weakness and will come back stronger. It was a great exposure to play against India. I am happy with my team, after 10 overs the bowlers got good momentum and restricted them to below 200. We got good experience from this tournament by playing against India and Pakistan. We made some good memories,” she said.
Barma praised her team’s efforts in restricting India to below 200 runs after the 10-over mark and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to create memorable experiences by competing against formidable opponents like India and Pakistan.
