The Indian women’s cricket team went down by eight wickets to Australia in the first One Day International (ODI) in Vadodara on Monday, 12 March. India posted a meagre 200 runs on the board after choosing to bat first at the toss. Nicole Bolton’s 100 runs off 101 balls helped the visitors win the match with 17.5 overs to spare.
Stand-in captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the batters shouldn’t have gone for the big shots.
Today, the batters were going for the big shots. The plan was to bat cautiously in the first 10 overs, but Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma threw their wickets away.Harmanpreet Kaur
Harmanpreet added that the top 5-6 batters have to take responsibility.
Sometimes, the opening batsmen gives us a good start. Sometimes, the lower order contributes. The top 5-6 batters will have to take responsibility. We can’t depend on the lower order all the time.Harmanpreet Kaur
India were dealt a big blow even before the start of the game when captain Mithali Raj was ruled out due to illness.
Mithali was a big loss for us. But the juniors grabbed their opportunity and showed their character.Harmanpreet Kaur
Electing to bat after winning the toss, India lost wickets at regular intervals before Pooja Vastrakar and Sushma Verma steadied the ship with their sensible batting.
The 18-year-old Vastrakar's scored her maiden half-century. She laced her crucial knock with seven boundaries and a six, while Verma found the fence three times during her 71-ball innings.
The total looked a far cry when Shikha Pandey was dismissed in the 32nd over with the score reading 113 for seven. That was the time when Verma and Vastrakar joined hands to bail India out of a precarious situation.
She (Vastrakar) played very well in South Africa and she showed her character today as well. We are expecting more good performances from her.Harmanpreet Kaur
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)