ENG W vs IND W | We can stop any team if we stop leaking boundaries, claims Harmanpreet Kaur
Indian women's T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has rued the fact that India gave away many boundaries in the first T20I and stated that if they can improve that, the side will be able to stop any team. She added that things didn't work out when they came to chase as they kept losing wickets.
It was a boundary fest by the English batters in the first T20I against India as the hosts put up a mammoth 177 in Northampton. Nat Sciver and Amy Jones were the show stealers with the bat as they hammered 12 fours and three sixes amongst them and took the attack to the tourists. Nat Sciver, in particular, batted aggressively and brought up her fifty of merely 24 deliveries, surpassing Beaumont's 27-ball effort to record the fastest ever T20I fifty any English women player.
Reflecting on the loss, India's skipper Harmanpreet Kaur felt India lost it by leaking one boundary too many, and it remains one aspect of the game that they need to work on as it can help them stop any side.
"We need to think of the boundaries we're are giving in between overs. If we can work on that, we can stop any team. Every game is important for us, today was unfortunate because of rain. Still two more games left for us to prove ourselves," Harmanpreet said after the game.
In a rain-marred game, the Indian batting fell short in the chase after Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Harleen Deol couldn't get going at all, while Smriti Mandhana managed 29 off 17. Harmanpreet further added that India lost many wickets, and that put them on the backfoot. However, she lauded the way India fielded, especially after the super catch Harleen took on the boundary to leave everyone in awe of her fielding.
"We were batting according to DLS, unfortunately, we kept losing wickets. We knew there'd be rain after 8:30 PM. We couldn't make it due to back-to-back wickets. We fielded really well, there's a lot of improvement in our fielding. Shikha did really well in the bowling department."