CHENNAI: When Smriti Mandhana turned up for the pre-match press conference on Monday ahead of the second T20I against England, she didn't mince words. She, in fact, acknowledged that despite the conditions in Durham (where the first T20I was played) not being 100 per cent, the batters did not do enough to put up a competitive total on board for the spin-heavy bowling attack. India women eventually lost the match by nine wickets.
“As a batting unit, definitely, we have not been doing our best from the 12th to 20th overs. Those are areas where even at CWG there was a match or two where we actually could not get to a score from where we started off. We want to address that as a team,” she said.
Now, ever since she stepped foot in England, the southpaw has been in glorious touch. She’s been timing the ball like a dream. There were two fifties in the CWG, one in The Hundred, but the big scores weren’t coming as often as she would have liked. In a few words, she was rather the aggressor, setting the tone early on, than the anchor who plays through the innings. However, that meant, in the middle-order without Jemimah Rodrigues, India were left with significant uncertainty in the first T20I.
On Tuesday, in Derby, despite letting the momentum go off after reducing England to 5/54, 143 wasn’t a daunting target. And for Mandhana, the mission was clear. Take the team home and keep the series alive.
And that is exactly what she did, smashing an unbeaten 79, along with her captain and favourite batting partner in Harmanpreet Kaur as India chased down the total with ease.
Through the 53-ball knock, she looked imperial. There were back foot punches, pulls and lofts off the spinners, and some occasional scoop shots as well. It was an extension of the short bursts she was providing of late.
Mandhana is among the few batters in the world who could keep the momentum going for the entire course of an innings without breaking a sweat. The Indian vice-captain herself admitted that she has found the kind of touch she had in 2019. The team management would want her to make the most of it. For the kind of zone she currently is in is rare to come by.
Brief scores: England 142/6 in 20 ovs (Kemp 51 n.o; Rana 3/24) lost to India 146/2 in 16.4 overs (Mandhana 79 n.o)
India vs England, 3rd T20I, Live on Sony Sports from 11.00PM