Harmanpreet Kaur-led India scripted history on Wednesday as the side won their maiden T20I series against England.
Harmanpreet Kaur-led India made history on Wednesday as the side won their maiden T20I series against England. The feat is all the more special considering the win came on UK soil. India sealed the series win after winning the fourth T20I of the five-match series by six wickets. This is the first time that India Women have won a T20I bilateral series (more than two matches) against England. India had lost all six previous series against the opponents.
The visitors started the series off well, winning the opening two T20Is. Smriti Mandhana even hit a century in the series opener at Trent Bridge. However, England bounced back strongly in the third T20I at The Oval over the last weekend.
Heading into the fourth T20I, England were focused on levelling the series, while India’s task was simple—win the contest and gain an unassailable lead in the series. The latter is what exactly happened as England folded under pressure.
England won the toss and opted to bat first. However, a spirited bowling performance restricted the hosts to 126/7 in the allotted twenty overs. Shree Charani and Radha Yadav scalped two wickets each for India, while Sophia Dunkley was the top-scorer for England with a knock of 22.
India had no difficulty in chasing the total down as Smriti Mandhana (32), Shafali Verma (31), Jemimah Rodrigues (24) and Harmanpreet Kaur (26) all chipped in with valuable contributions. In the end, India won the match by six wickets with 18 balls to spare. Amanjot Kaur and Richa Ghosh remained unbeaten on 2 and 7 respectively.
What did Harmanpreet Kaur say?
After the win in the fourth T20I, Harmanpreet Kaur said she was really grateful to have registered a victory against England. She also said that it was truly heartwarming to see her team put in a complete performance.
“We are really grateful that we were able to do this. I’m really proud of my team, the way we played this series. It was really important to get that momentum, and I’m really happy the way we all contributed. We had very good camps back home before coming here,” she said at the post-match presentation.
“We worked on all our plans, and accordingly, we have executed everything here. Everybody knew their role, and accordingly, we all played. We have now played three seasons of WPL, and every season has been special for us. We’ve got a lot of experience from that. All of us played in that tournament, and we got a lot of positivity. Good sign that we are now able to execute in international cricket also,” she added.
Harmanpreet also stated that she is really looking forward to winning the series 4-1 and will put her best foot forward in the last T20I, which will be played at Edgbaston on Saturday, July 12.
“Hopefully (when asked if India would want to make it 4-1). We need to do the right things again and again,” she stated.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
