Indian opener Smriti Mandhana showered praise on Harmanpreet Kaur after the duo added a match-winning partnership against West Indies in the 10th match of the ongoing ICC Women World Cup 2022 at the Seddon Park, Hamilton on Saturday.
India defeated the Windies by a huge margin of 155 runs, to register their second-biggest win in the World Cup in terms of the number of runs. In fact, Mandhana completed her fifty off 66 balls however she was able to change gears as got to her hundred off the 108th ball she faced.
Mandhana scored a fine knock of 123 runs with the help of 13 fours and two sixes. On the other hand, Harmanpreet Kaur scored a brilliant knock of 109 runs off 107 balls. The hard-hitting right-hander scored 10 fours and two sixes in her blistering knock. Kaur had scored a fine inning against New Zealand and she continued her rich form against the Windies.
Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur added 182 runs for the fourth-wicket stand and both of them played a key role in helping India go past 300 runs and post a par score of 317.
“I think she’s a very crucial part of our batting order, especially in the middle order. And I’m really happy that she’s come back to form and I think from the practice game, she’s been batting well, so we’re really confident that she’ll be able to score runs in this tournament and I’m happy that she’s got back-to-back 50’s. Most importantly, I think today’s century will give her a lot of confidence and I think the whole team as well, because we were not in a great place I think to start with and from there for her to come in and bat and get us out of that situation. I think it was an incredible innings,” said Mandhana.
Mandhana was awarded the Player of the match for her match-winning knock however she decided to share it with Harmanpreet Kaur.
Kaur said after the game, “The set batter was there today, and last game against New Zealand that was missing. I was very confident about my batting as I was getting back my rhythm. We knew once we are settled we can get the boundary and we were able to do that. The left-right combination is always a great thing, I would love to give it to her because she scored more than me and she deserves that.”
West Indies could only manage 162 runs despite a quick start from Hayley Matthews and Deandra Ditton. The WI openers added 100 runs but they lost their 10 wickets for only 62 runs in the end.
India will next face England at Bay Oval, Mount Manganui on Wednesday.
