India posted a record total with the help of the Indian captain’s fifth ODI century and Harleen Deol’s maiden ODI fifty in the second ODI match of the series against England on Wednesday.
Captain Harmanpreet led from the front and played an innings of a lifetime helping India set a record chase for England. India ended their first innings with 333 runs with the help of brilliant innings from Kaur, Harleen Deol and Mandhana. After being invited to bat first by England, India lost opener Shafali Verma in the second over, as the batter once again failed to secure a big inning. The batter struck two boundaries in the first over and looked set for a big score but was clean bowled by Kate Cross.
Kate made an excellent start to her 50th ODI, dismissing Shafali in her first over for eight runs, leaving India at 12/1 in the second over of the match.
Yastika Bhatia made her way to the crease and stitched an important 54-run partnership with the in-form Smriti Mandhana to deny any wicket to the hosts till the 10th over, taking the score a healthy 60/1 at the 10-over mark. Both the batters kept the scoreboard ticking at a good rate, scoring boundaries regularly.
Mandhana in the process also completed 3000 ODI runs and became the fastest Indian woman to get there.
Charlotte Dean then dismissed Yastika Bhatia in the 12th over to give England a much-needed breakthrough, as the pair looked threatening to take the game away from the hosts.
Dean took a superb catch of her own bowling to dismiss Bhatia for a score of 26 from 34 deliveries and left India at 66/2 in the 12th over of the innings.
The wicket of Bhatia brought the Indian captain at the wicket. She was involved in a 33-run stand with Mandhana, before Sophie Ecclestone stuck the pad of the opener.
Smriti missed the ball while attempting a sweep, which saw her downfall in the 20th over.
The southpaw played yet another handy knock of 40 runs from 51 deliveries, involving one six and four boundaries. Indian total at the end of the 20th over was 104/3, with Harleen Deol joining the Indian captain.
The duo resorted to an attacking approach and did not allow the English bowlers to settle down with their line and lengths.
Both the batters played some eye-pleasing shots and took the Indian total over the 200-run mark in the 40th over.
Kaur reached her half-century in style as she deposited the ball over the mid-wicket boundary with her signature slog sweep shot.
The Indian captain clinched her 18th ODI fifty in the 37th over of the match of Dean’s bowling. Her batting partner Deol also followed in the footsteps of the captain and secured her maiden ODI fifty with a conservative single towards mid-wicket in the next over.
Just as the duo was set to go bonkers in the final 10 overs, Deol played walked across the stumps and played a flick to a slower ball, but was unable to clear the fence. Wyatt standing at square leg finished the catch. Deol departed after playing a fine innings of 58 from 72 ball, including two sixes and five boundaries.
Kaur and Deol shared a 113-run stand for the fourth wicket to put India in the driver’s seat.
At the 40-over mark, India’s score read 212/4 setting a tremendous platform for the batters to exploit the last phase of the match.
Pooja Vastrakar joined Kaur who looked determined to plunder the English bowlers at the fag end of the innings.
Vastrakar played aggressive shots along with the captain to take India past the 250-run mark in the 45th over. Both players put their foot down on the pedal and looked to score quick runs, dismantling the English attack.