Watched a bit of the men's match and also how the first innings went: Smriti Mandhana after Napier heroics
Indian women's team opener Smriti Mandhana scored an unbeaten ton as he guided her team to an emphatic 9-wicket win against New Zealand women just a day after the Indian men's team romped through to an 8-wicket win at the same venue. Mandhana along with Jemimah Rodrigues (81) added a 190-run stand to help her team get over the line.
After the game, Mandhana spoke in detail about her preparations and how he went about her business. This was her first game in New Zealand and she did not look uncomfortable at all. She eased into her innings and with every shot she played and gathered confidence and momentum into her innings.
"The plan was to see how the new ball was doing. This was the first time we were batting in New Zealand, and we didn't really know we watched a bit of the men's match and also how the first innings went. So we decided to just keep it simple, play according to the merit of the ball," Mandhana said.
Mandhana also drew praise from skipper Mithali Raj who after overcoming her own share of problems is back to leading the Indian team. The series against New Zealand is India's first assignment since their infamous exit from the Women's World T20 last year. India's loss against England in the semi-final broke out an outrage among the Indian fans who blamed the team management for dropping her from the line-up in the knockout game.
Going onto add more about her innings she said " Really happy. I have a thing of getting out in the 70s and 80s, so I had to talk to myself, 'don't hit any rash shots, don't hit any lofted shots, just play in singles and doubles'. I'm really happy with that aspect. I was able to stick in and guide the team through. Again, if I'd scored three runs I would have been a lot happier".
Both teams meet again on January 29 with India leading 1-0 in the three-match series.
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