“After Two Tough Months, It Feels…”: India Stand-In Captain Smriti Mandhana Pours Heart Out After Win vs New Zealand

Stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana hailed India’s bowling and fielding efforts as they bounced back from a “tough” phase to secure a win against New Zealand in the first ODI of the three-match series. India’s Women’s T20 World Cup campaign earlier this month had ended in a disaster as they failed to reach the semifinals following a 58-run defeat to Sophie Devine’s New Zealand, who went on to win the tournament.

However, this time, Devine’s side fell short of chasing a modest 228, losing to India by 59 runs in the ODI series opener.

“It’s been a tough 1.5 to 2 months, so it feels good to start with a win. If you don’t believe in cricket, you won’t succeed,” said Mandhana, who captained in place of Harmanpreet Kaur, during the post-match presentation.

Harmanpreet was rested for this game because of an unspecified niggle.

Indian batters also could not convert their starts and kept losing wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for an under-par 227 in 44.3 overs.

“We had a talk that we were under-par but if we field well, we could add 20-30 runs. Saima set the tone for us with Suzie’s wicket,” Smriti said of the debutant seamer who bagged 2 for 26.

“She (Saima) has been around with us (for the past couple of months). She has been brilliant throughout and we have seen her work really hard. Really happy for her and hope this is just the start for her,” she added.

Saima said: “I have been very patient, the team is amazing. That is the secret. It was a flat wicket honestly. It was a batter’s paradise. But we did really well as a bowling group and luckily, it (the result) came into our favour.” T20 World Cup-winning NZ captain Devine was run out for two in a bizarre fashion after stepping down the track and tapping the ball back to the bowler.

Bowler Deepti Sharma quickly threw it to wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia, who removed the bails with Devine’s foot just outside the crease as the TV umpire confirmed the dismissal, giving India a key breakthrough and leaving New Zealand at 46/3.

“I thought she was outside her crease, so I felt throwing it (to Yastika) was a good option,” said player-of-the-match Deepti who hit a 51-ball 41 and returned with 1/35 from nine overs.

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