Harmanpreet Kaur praises bowlers, fielders after series-equalling win

Tags: India Women tour of England, 2021, England Women, India Women, Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar

Published on: Jul 12, 2021

India Women captain Harmanpreet Kaur praised the team’s bowling and fielding after the visitors fought hard to win the second match of the three-game T20I series in Hove. Sent into bat, India Women managed 148 for 4 on the board. Shafali Verma top-scored with 48 while skipper Kaur him some form with 31. Deepti Sharma chipped in with an unbeaten 24.

In response, England Women were cruising at 106 for 2. However, the dismissal of Tammy Beaumont for 59 and the run out of England skipper Heather Knight (30) gave India Women some hope. They fought back brilliantly to restrict England to 140 for 8. Poonam Yadav was sensational with 2 for 17, Deepti Sharma claimed 1 for 18 while Sneh Rana gave away on 21 in his four though she went wicketless.

Speaking after the win, Kaur said the entire team put up a good combined effort. She commented, “Great effort by our whole team, everybody knows what to do and I'm really happy with the way we played. We got a very good start (with the bat), but for two-three overs we didn't get runs. I had to go because we needed 150 on the board. I will give credit to our bowlers, their field placement was important, and the fielding was outstanding. We always want to win, this bubble thing is not that easy too adapt. We should give credit to our support staff, keeping us motivated."

England captain Knight admitted that they dominated for a large part of the game but conceded they shouldn’t have lost after being 106 for 2. On her dismissal following a freak run out with Deepti Sharma deflecting the ball onto the stumps, Knight said, “Didn't think I could get back in, not at all deliberate by Deepti. It was what it was, given out and changed the game. As a batting group we've got to be better, it was a good wicket, need to take our singles and not put pressure on lower order. Strong line-up, but not been ruthless. Have to be better, shouldn't be losing those games. We can't lose the series but we're desperate to win it. Credit to India, taken it to the last game, but we'll be looking to win the series in Chelmsford."

Deepti Sharma was named player of the match for her impressive all-round effort. The final T20I of the series will be held in Chelmsford on July 14.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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