Virat Kohli special meeting with Indian women’s cricket team stars Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana; see pics

Virat kohli met Indian women’s team members Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana. (Source: Indian Cricket team Facebook)

India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday met women’s team members Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur after the fourth ODI against Australia. Both Harmanpreet and Mandhana were a part of the women’s cricket team that made it to the final of the World Cup earlier this year. Though the Mithali Raj-led team lost the final to hosts England.

Both Mandhana and Kaur gathered praise for their batting abilities in the World Cup. On the other side, Virat  Kohli’s men though lost the Bangalore encounter against Australia but sealed the series earlier in Indore after winning the third match in Indore.

Earlier in the day, Steve Smith won the toss and decided to bat first. Australian openers David Warner and Aaron Finch responded well and the two compiled a partnership of over 200 runs for the first wicket. Warner went onto score his career’s 14th ODI ton while Finch just missed out on a century by 6 runs.

Australia did lose some wickets in quick succession but the visitors managed to take their total to 334 in 50 overs. In reply, India started off well as Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma compiled a total of 106 runs for the first wicket before Rahane was undone for 53.

Later, Rohit Sharma became a victim of a mix-up with captain Kohli in the middle while the skipper himself got out soon. The hosts then lost some wickets at regular intervals only to fall short of the total by 21 runs. India now lead the five-match series 3-1 with one more game to go.