The Indian women's cricket team wrapped up their T20I series against England to take a 1-0 win in the ODI series with star batter Smriti Mandhana smashing a match-winning knock in the first ODI at Hove on Sunday, September 18. Mandhana's innings of 91 off 99 deliveries helped the Women in Blue to a seven-wicket win with 34 balls to spare.
Speaking at the post-match interview after her knock, Mandhana dedicated the win to veteran bowler Jhulan Goswami, who is playing her final series in Indian colours. “I want to say that this series is for Jhulu di (Jhulan Goswami), her bowling was amazing. All our efforts in this series will be for Jhulu di,” said Mandhana.
She revealed that the entire team is pulling out all the stops to give her an idyllic farewell as this was her last before calling it a day from international cricket. To illustrate her respect for the pacer, Mandhana also dedicated her Player of the Match medal to the veteran bowler who bagged a wicket as well as giving away just 20 runs in 10 overs including two maiden overs.
Mandhana missed out on her sixth ODI hundred by just nine runs. But the India opener said that she would have been happy had she remained unbeaten at the end. Mandhana also added that playing the 50-over format is her natural game, unlike in T20Is, where she has to put in the effort to take care of her strike rate.
"I would've enjoyed it better with a not-out at the end. Thanks to the supporters for coming out, happy to put out a show for them. ODIs are natural for me, In T20Is I have to put into effort taking care of the strike rate. In ODIs, I can just react. But I'm happy to lay the platform. I'm happy that Harman won the toss. I saw the pitch in the first innings and told myself to cut down on the back-foot play. But didn't hold back too much," she said.
India will next take on England in the second ODI on September 21 at Canterbury, followed by the third and final match on September 24 at Lord's.