India defeated the West Indies in match 3 of the ICC Women’s World Cup in Hamilton on 12 March. After receiving the Player of the Match award after an impressive 123 runs, Smriti Mandhana shared the award with her teammate Harmanpreet Kaur, who again ran 109 runs.
But according to Smriti Mandhana, the century in which he lived would have been less important if Kaur had not scored the century that fell upon him. During the post-match presentation, 25-year-old Smriti Mandhana received the Player of the Match award, but shared the award with Kaur as she was equally deserving. It was rare to witness such things from players in a tournament like the World Cup.
“I don’t think anyone would want to score a century and not be the player of the match. I think we both contributed to the score to get over 300 and it’s nice to share the trophy, both deserve it. I think as a batter we prefer both (target spotting and chasing), your throw will not go the way you want, and you will not get what you want.” said Smriti Mandhana.
Our strengths are really different, Kaur is very good at spinning and I love the pace of the ball, we know, and when the spinner came bowling, I would give the shot back to Harman and he did the same while he was there. A pacer was coming. I’m sure ICC will give another trophy and they have enough budget to do it (with a big smile on their face).”
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Smriti Mandhana-Harmanpreet Kaur partnership
Harmanpreet’s century made her the first Indian woman to reach three centuries at the ODI World Cups. It was Mandhana’s second century at the ODI World Cup and against the West Indies.
India won the draw and chose to strike first. 31 runs of 21 balls by opener Yastika Bhatia helped India add some fast runs on the scoreboard. Other opener Mandhana’s significant partnership with veteran Harmanpreet Kaur helped India reach 125 by three in 25. On the 43rd, he was sent back to the mansion by Mandhana, who seemed dangerous. Shamilia Connell after scoring his second consecutive century (129) against the West Indies. Kaur hit the ball in 47th place. The partnership between the two led the team to their best score ever in any ODI World Cup with 317 runs for 8 wickets. This is the highest score ever in this year’s World Cup tournament.
Team India’s win over West Indies was a much needed win after disappointing. In their second match, the home team lost to New Zealand. India will play their next match against England on 16 March at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
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