ENG-W vs IND-W: Smriti Mandhana becomes 2nd Indian to score hundred in women’s T20Is
ENG-W vs IND-W: Smriti Mandhana became the second Indian to score a hundred in women’s T20Is as she put the England bowlers to the sword with her knock on Saturday, June 28. Mandhana got to the landmark in just 51 balls and joined Harmanpreet Kaur as the only two Indian batters to have scored hundreds in the format.
Mandhana was playing the role of stand-in skipper for the day as Harmanpreet was rested for the match as a precaution after she was hit on the head during a warm-up game against ECB Select XI. England won the toss and put the visitors into batting. Mandhana started things off with a boundary in the very first over as her partner Shafali Verma looked to be struggling at the other end. The Indian stand-in skipper continued the assault with a couple of boundaries in the next over.
Despite the brilliance from Mandhana, India could only get 47 from the powerplay overs, with the stand-in skipper scoring 31 of them. However, things changed in the seventh over as Mandhana hit Sophie Eccelstone for two sixes and got 19 runs from the over. The momentum was carried on by the southpaw as she got to her fifty in 27 balls and with a boundary.
After Shafali’s wicket, Mandhana found the perfect partner in Harleen Deol, who started off with the right intent and blasted Linsey Smith for three boundaries in an over. The duo brought up their fifty partnership in quick time as Mandhana raced to the nineties with some elegant strokeplay.
It took only a couple of boundaries for the Indian opener to reach the landmark in just 51 balls as she had her arms lofted in the air. Mandhana was eventually dismissed for 112 runs off 62 balls as India posted 210 for the loss of five wickets in their 20 overs.
