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Follow UsIndian women's cricket team defeated the England team by 7 wickets in the first WODI of the series. Smriti Mandhana scored a stunning 91 from 99 balls to give India a solid base. Along with her, Yastika Bhatia and Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored fifties as well to take India home in the ENGW vs INDW 1st WODI match.
Former India cricketer Gargi Banerjee feels that is a satisfactory performance from the girls in blue as India outplayed their opponent in all the disciplines. However, she feels that India will have to keep the momentum going in order to win the series and give Jhulan Goswami a perfect send-off from international cricket.
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Jhulan Goswami's inclusion in the team rugged off confidence to other bowlers of the team as they were more disciplined in their line and length throughout the match. Goswami, who bowled a tidy spell of 10-2-20-1 showed the path for youngsters like Meghna Singh and others.
"When you have a champion bowler and great mind like Jhulan in the team bowling with you, you tend to bowl well as well. Jhulan showed the way for others. And, as I was saying from the T20Is, Deepti Sharma needs to bowl well if India wants to do well in the middle overs. Deepti bowled brilliantly along with others," Gargi Banerjee stated in an exclusive interview with Sportz Point.
It was a crucial toss, the partnership between Jhulan and Meghna was great. Credit to all the bowlers as they chipped through. (On Deepti Sharma) She is a very smart cricketer, she was doing exactly what was asked of her.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Indian captain in the post-match presentation.
In addition, Gargi Banerjee was impressed with the way Indian women fielded in the first ENGW vs INDW WODI. "We fielded better in this match. We looked better as a team on the field. Somehow, they all looked motivated as well," Gargi Banerjee added.
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However, it was the Indian batters who completed the task started well by the bowlers. Shafali Verma's poor form (1 from 6 balls) at the top continued but, Yastika Bahtia and Smriti Mandhana's partnership of 96 saved the day for India. Later, after Yastika's dismissal (50 off 47), Harmanpreet Kaur (74 not out) and Smriti Mandhanan's 99 runs partnership took India home. Harmanpreet finished the game with a signature six to state some authority.
"Smriti looked flawless. Yes, the English bowlers did not have their best days, but Smriti looked solid in everything. Yastika's partnership with Smriti was vital for us. They created the base for Harmpanpreet to take over. As I have said earlier, you always need two big partnerships to score big or chase well. India had two brilliant partnerships," Gargi Banerjee expressed.
But the former India cricketer feels it will be interesting to see how the Indian batters will perform when the English bowlers will have a better day. "To keep the momentum going, they will have to score runs when the opponent bowlers are bowling well. Players like Yastika, and Harleen will have to step up if the seniors fail," she added.
"I want to say that this series is for Jhulu di (Jhulan Goswami), her bowling was amazing. All our efforts in this series will be for Jhulu di."
Smrti Mandhana said in the post-match presentation.
"It is a great honour for all the players to play alongside legend Jhulan (Goswami). I am sure, Jhulan will be proud of herself as well seeing the whole team is giving extra effort to win it for her. There will not be any other Jhulan Goswami in Indian and world cricket. So, I hope the Indian team will give her the perfect podium to say goodbye. My best wishes are with them," Gargi Banerjee stated.