Key Points

Harmanpreet Kaur praised Smriti Mandhana ahead of her 150th T20I appearance, calling her batting effortless. Mandhana recently smashed 112 against England, climbing to No.3 in T20I rankings. India Women, fresh off a 97-run win, aim to extend their lead in Bristol. The left-handed opener also captained India in the first T20I in Kaur's absence.

Key Points: Harmanpreet Kaur Celebrates Smriti Mandhana's 150th T20I Milestone

  • Harmanpreet Kaur lauds Smriti Mandhana's batting brilliance
  • Mandhana nears 150 T20I caps with 3873 runs
  • India Women eye 2-0 lead after Nottingham win
  • Mandhana climbs to No.3 in T20I rankings with 771 points
2 min read

Great achievement: Harmanpreet Kaur lauds Smriti Mandhana ahead of her 50th appearance in T20I

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur praises Smriti Mandhana ahead of her 150th T20I as India Women face England in Bristol.

"It's a great achievement as a player... she made batting look very easy. — Harmanpreet Kaur"

Bristol July 1

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hailed star opening batter Smriti Mandhana as she is set to feature in her 150th fixture in T20 internationals as India Women take on England Women on Tuesday.

India Women shocked England Women in the first T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, winning by a whopping 97 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The Women in Blue will look to double their lead when they take on England in the second T20I at the County Ground in Bristol.

In a video posted by BCCI, Harmanpreet Kaur said, "It's a great achievement as a player because when we start playing cricket, we always have a dream to play for the country. The way, you know, she's hitting the ball, I think that is something which is totally different from others, and she has a lot of time when she's batting. She made batting look very easy the way, you know, she was handling England ballers."

In 149 outings in T20 Internationals, Mandhana has slammed 3873 runs at an average of 30.02 and a strike rate of 124.41. She has 30 fifties and a hundred on her name.

Mandhana, who is the No.1 ranked ODI batter, took England to the sword with a superb innings of 112 in Nottingham recently. That helped the left-hander gain one place and move to third on the latest rankings for T20I batters.

Mandhana has also reached a new career-best rating of 771 points and has 23-point gap from No.1 ranked player Beth Mooney among T20I batters.

Smriti also led from the front as she was the captain in the first T20I in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur.

India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare.

- ANI

Share this article:

Reader Comments

P
Priya S
As a mother of two girls who play cricket, Smriti is such an inspiration! My daughters have posters of her in their room. The way she makes batting look so effortless is magical. Wishing her many more milestones ahead!
A
Aman W
While I admire Smriti's batting, I feel our women's team needs to work more on consistency. One great match followed by average performances won't help in long run. Hope they maintain this momentum throughout the series.
S
Shreya B
That cover drive of Smriti is pure poetry in motion! 😍 So proud to see Indian women cricketers getting the recognition they deserve. BCCI should organize more matches and increase their pay - they're bringing us more glory than men's team these days!
V
Vikram M
️ 3873 runs at 124 strike rate is world class! But what impresses me more is her leadership. Did you see how she marshalled the team in Harmanpreet's absence? Future captain material for sure!
N
Nisha Z
Why isn't women's cricket getting same media coverage as men's? Smriti's century was better than most men's T20 innings but got just 30 sec on news channels. Shameful! We need to support our women athletes better.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Leave a Comment

Minimum 50 characters 0/50