Harmanpreet lauds 'outstanding' Mandhana as India register their second-biggest win in ODIs

Days after winning the T20I series 2-1, the Indian Women’s side began the three-match ODI series against West Indies in dominant fashion on December 22 (Sunday), registering their second-biggest win in ODIs (in terms of runs), hammering the visitors by 211 runs.

And the victory was unsurprisingly set up by none other than vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who sizzled with a 102-ball 91 to break the record for the most runs scored by any woman in a calendar year in international cricket.

India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, after the game, was full of praise for Mandhana, who has now hit a fifty in each of her last five international matches across formats. “The way Smriti is batting, that is outstanding to watch,” Harmanpreet said after the game.

“It is looking really easy, but trust me, it is not easy.”

The job started by Mandhana was finished by Renuka Thakur, who picked up the first five-wicket haul of her ODI career to blow away the Windies, who got bowled out for 103. 

Harmanpreet lavished praise on India’s talisman seamer.“Renuka has been bowling well for so many years, but today was special for her [getting five wickets],” the team India skipper said.

Renuka, meanwhile, revealed that ‘spot bowling’ in practice was the key to her success on the day. “We did spot bowling yesterday. In ODIs, it depends on how many balls you can land in the same spot. I spoke to Jhulan (Goswami) di, and she told me the more balls I pitch in the same area, the more wickets I will get,” she revealed.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, meanwhile, admitted that her side were disappointing on all fronts. “We probably were not quite on the mark today - all three facets of the game really. Not the brand of cricket we want to play, and we have to improve moving forward,” Matthews said.

“Just getting back to the training part and being hungrier in things that we do. We were not consistent with the ball and in the field. You are going to have bad days but we need to try to avoid that as much as possible and not make it a habit.”

The second match of the series will be played on December 24 (Tuesday).