Follow UsRecords tumbled in Rajkot on January 15 (Tuesday) as the Indian Women’s side ran riot, hammering Ireland by 304 runs to complete their second consecutive series whitewash.
Winning the toss and batting first, the hosts crossed the 400-run mark for the first time in WODIs and posted the highest white-ball total by any Indian side - 435/5. Then, after a flawless showing with the bat, they rolled Ireland over for just 131 to register their biggest ever win in 50-over cricket.
It was a performance of dreams from the Women In Blue, one that will likely not be eclipsed for a long time. Unsurprisingly, stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana was delighted with her team’s showing.
“Near perfect game for sure, winning the toss and going into bat and scoring 400-plus is a really good achievement,” Mandhana said after the game.
“One thing is that I told the bowlers to bowl them out in the 31st over and they achieved that.”
Mandhana said that it was a conscious decision from her and the entire side to take the attack from the get go after winning the toss. India were merciless with the bat on the day, racing to 90/0 inside the first 10 overs. They never looked back after the initial onslaught.
And the charge was led by none other than the skipper herself who, after the rapid start, went on to score the fastest ever hundred by an Indian in WODIs, bringing up her ton off just 70 balls.
“It was pretty much planned today, not many matches you go out there and you start taking on from the get-go, the wicket was good and the outfield was fast. Sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn't, I'm happy that it came off today,” she said.
For India, it was a series in which there was no paucity of runs from the side’s batters. As many as three batters got to the three figure mark in the series, while Harleen Deol posted 89 in the second ODI of the series.
“I'm really pleased that all the girls got a good game-time. As much you do it in the nets, going out there and scoring runs matters the most,” Mandhana said.
“The 100s and 50s from the batters have been really good. I'm happy for them and the bowlers also executed their plans well.”
Despite the team’s flawless showing in the series, the left-hander insisted that there was still room for improvement. Mandhana asserted that if India could tighten up a couple of areas, they have the chance to do ‘something special’ at the ODI World Cup later this year.
“We really want to work on our fielding and running between the wickets. These two things will be crucial and if we are good in these two departments, hopefully, we can do something special in the World Cup,” the 28-year-old said.