India’s Smriti Mandhana celebrates her half century during the second ODI cricket match against England. (Source: PTI)The Indian women cricket team beat England by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday in the second ODI of the three-match series to take an unassailable 2-0 lead. With the win, India solidify their second place in the ICC ODI Championship.
Chasing 162, Smriti Mandhana’s half-century and Mithali Raj’s unbeaten 47 helped the hosts seal the game with 7-wickets and 53 balls to spare after England Women won the toss and opted to bat.
Mithali said after the match that they wanted to bat first, “Playing at home, the first 30 minutes is very important. So, we wanted to bat first. In the second innings, the spinners come into the picture as it slows down. Sometimes some don’t have a good day and that is why players with momentum should cover up for players who are not having a good day. I was a little disappointed with the bowlers towards the end as they got some 50 odd runs (42 runs) for the last wicket.”
Despite Natalie Sciver’s 85, including 12 fours and a six, pacers Shikha Pandey and Jhulan Goswami troubled the visitors with four wickets each as India women bowled out England for a paltry 161.
Speaking after the match, Jhulan said, “My role was to give early breakthroughs. I was able to hit the right areas and waited for the batters to make mistakes. When you are bowling in the powerplay, you need to have a back up plan. I was just trying to use my experience.”
“Whenever we win the toss, I ask Mithali to bat first so that I get more time to settle my nerves down. No matter how many years you have played the sport at the top level, the nerves would always be there,” she said.
Sciver and Lauren Winfield (28) stitched a 49-run stand for the fifth wicket. After Winfield’s wicket, Sciver added 42 runs with Alex Hartley for the last wicket to ensure that the visitors crossed the 150-run mark.
The Indian women’s side had defeated England in the first ODI by 66 runs on February 22.
Brief Score:
England: 161 all out in 43.3 overs (NR Sciver 85; J Goswami 4/30, S Pandey 4/18).
India: 162-3 in 41.1 overs (S Mandhana 63; A Shrubsole 2/23).
