After a disappointing performance in the series opener against England, the Indian women’s cricket team will be eyeing a much-improved punching power in the second T20 in Derby on Tuesday. The first game at Chester-Le-Street saw the Indian batters pull a cropper against the English bowlers. “After the first match we discussed a few things. We obviously didn’t play the kind of cricket we’ve been playing for the past few months. We really need to live up to the standards of what we’ve achieved in the past. It was a little disappointing but it was just another bad day,” opener Smriti Mandhana said at the pre-match press conference.
“Need to improve our decisiveness in the medium overs”
Smriti echoed what skipper Harmanpreet Kaur had to say after losing the first game to the unsuitable conditions at Chester-Le-Street, but admitted the team really needs to improve its striking ability, especially in the center overs.
“Yes, the conditions were not so good in the first game and there were also patches on the outfield. But we won’t use it as an excuse.
“We have to improve our hitting power between the 12th and 18th over. We didn’t do that in the first game.” Smriti admitted that a tasteless approach to the Indian batters resulted in a disappointing performance and the goal is to bring the score around 160 to 170 if they want to beat a quality side.
“Given the standard of T20 cricket these days, we need to score somewhere between 160 and 170 to be on the safe side. But that also depends on the nature of the wicket,” said Smriti.
“Post the CWG, I feel it’s Harman, Jemimah or my responsibility to get the team through the 20 overs. But since it’s T20 cricket, we’ve introduced people like Hemalatha and Kiran into the mix. But you have to giving them time to perform to reach that level,” she added.
‘Medical team is still investigating Radha’s injury’
Radha Yadav, whose diving effort in the second over of England’s first game chase resulted in a shoulder injury, looks doubtful for the second game.
The 23-year-old left the field in pain and her departure also meant India was one bowler short.
“The medical team is still investigating Radha Yadav’s condition. We will not know her availability until before the game,” Smriti said.
Squad: India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh, Radha Yadav, S Meghana, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Rajeshwarian Gayakwad, Dayshwarian Gayakwad Gayakwad Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh and Kiran Prabhu Navgire.
England: Amy Jones (Captain and Week) Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Freya Kemp, Bryony Smith, Issy Wong and Danni Wyatt.
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Start match: 11 p.m. IST.
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