IND W vs SA W | Looking at the pitch we knew there was something for the bowlers, says Harmanpreet Kaur
India women's team captian Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that at first she was a bit nervous during the game but she knew that the pitch would offer some assistance to her bowlers. The Indian walked out as proud winners of the first T20I in Surat against South Africa Women, on Tuesday.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur believes that her bowlers did a great job in sealing a win in the first T20I against a touring South Africa Women's side, in Gujarat, on Tuesday. Having scored 130/8 in the first innings, Kaur was a bit nervous about what the outcome would be but she was relieved when she saw her bowlers doing as well as expected and subsequently securing an 11-run victory.
Kaur also threw light on the fact that she and her team are working really hard on their fitness. While the team was athletic on the field and the bowling was exceptional, Kaur believes there are areas to improve when it comes to batting.
"I was nervous at the halfway stage but we knew that we'd have something for the bowlers. They did a great job. We were doing a lot of fitness work before coming here and today we got the result on the field," Harmanpreet said at the post-match ceremony.
"The way we fielded and bowled, I was happy. Lot of areas to improve. Need to improve a lot with the bat. We are playing with an extra batter, so if batters do well, we can do even better. I always trusted Radha for the final over," the Indian skipper added.
Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma, who was awarded the Player of the Match award for her outstanding figures of 3-8 in her four overs, said the plan was to stick to the basics and let the pitch do the rest.
"This is my best bowling performance. We bowled how I had planned and got help from the wicket too. Plan was to bowl wicket to wicket. It was turning so pitched it up too," said Deepti.
"Mindset was to bowl in front. We were confident at the halfway mark and we wanted to enjoy. If you enjoy, you automatically do well."
The second T20I is scheduled to be played, on Thursday, at the same venue in Surat.