Captain Mithali Raj lauded India’s “special effort” to beat West Indies by 155 runs but wants more consistency in the upcoming games of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup.
Coming into the match after a loss against hosts New Zealand, India put on a brilliant all-rounder to dominate the West Indies and top the points table.
“Could not have asked for anything better than today’s performance. Today’s win will keep us in the (frame) tournament for the knockouts. The batting and bowling went really well,” Raj said in the post-match presentation.
“It had a lot to do with some games, could see the nerves in the girls. Everybody knew the importance of today’s game. A special effort was needed, we knew West Indies came from 2 wins, we lost a big playing after.
“We need to be consistent because the next game is in a different venue and a different opponent, we will have different plans.”
Smriti Mandhana (123) and Harmanpreet Kaur (109) registered the victory with twin centuries and Raj praised both of them for their sensible batting. “The way Smriti and Harman played, they were very smart and they used their experience to bring us to the table,” he added.
Raj on Saturday overtook former Australian counterpart Belinda Clarke to break the record for most matches to captain in the ICC Women’s World Cup. The Indian captain said that the team is in a good position with the young players performing well.
“It is good to have youngsters around, Jhulan and I have been playing for a long time. Telling a joke to youngsters when you have to let your guard down – it calms our nerves, which has helped me in the past. ,
West Indies captain Stephanie Taylor blamed the bowlers for their poor performance. “I don’t think we bowled the way we wanted to,” he said. Gave lots of short balls. I thought Harman and Smriti batted really well. We couldn’t go back on it.”
Chasing a tough target of 317, West Indies were ready to score 100 runs in 12.1 overs with openers Deandra Dottin (62) and Hayley Matthews (43), but once both were gone, the innings fell apart. .
The start he gave us was fantastic. Perhaps one of them needed to be there. But he did really well. The batsmen who came did not capitalize. “There will be a positive opening partnership. I think we did well in that area.”
Mandhana, named ‘Player of the Match’, decided to share the award with Kaur.
“I think scoring a century and not being the player of the match is something that I don’t really want as a player. I think we both contributed equally to score 300 runs. So, I think it is good for us to share the trophy and I think both are good contenders to get it,” said Mandhana.
“We learned from our mistakes and that was something we thought we were not going to repeat. As batsmen, we both like to chase and set goals together. In the last game, we could not go ahead and it is very important to find the momentum while chasing the target. “Our strength is really different because she is really good with spin and I like the pace on the ball. So when the spinner comes I give her strike and when the fast bowler comes she gives me strike.
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