Women’s World Cup: Mithali Raj has great things to say about Smriti Mandhana

Tags: Women’s World Cup, India Women, West Indies Women, Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana

Published on: Jun 30, 2017

Indian captain Mithali Raj lavished praise on Smriti Mandhana for her unbeaten hundred that took India to a seven-wicket victory

Indian captain Mithali Raj lavished praise on Smriti Mandhana for her unbeaten hundred that took India to a seven-wicket victory over the West Indies in the ICC Women’s World Cup match in Taunton.
Mandhana was unbeaten on 106 as India chased down 184. Mandhana, had earlier made 90 against England. She and Raj added 108 runs for the third wicket after India found themselves in trouble at 33 for 2.
“When we lost two wickets I thought the match was even there but it was important to build a partnership. Smriti played well for her hundred, it was a crucial innings she played and overall the team looks good going into our next game,” Raj told the media after the match.
“We stuck to the plan, it was a good toss to win and I thought the spinners really turned the match. At one point I thought their openers were going very well. The captain’s run-out and Hayley Matthews’ wicket was the turning point. After that the girls really tightened up the grip,” she added.
Stafanie Taylor, on the other hand, admitted that it was the batting in the middle that let them down. “We didn’t get the batting right in the middle. A good platform was set but in the middle we fell down and were really short where we didn’t rotate the strike enough,” she said. “We have the batters to do it but I think it’s up to the batters to take more responsibility in their actions. It was crucial to get the scoreboard ticking because we know how this pitch plays. We had to get a total of 270 to be competitive.”
“We have to go back to the drawing board and see what’s been happening and try to work on it. We have two days, we have to shake this off,” she added.
--By A Cricket Correspondent

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