NEW DELHI: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said on Friday that the Women in Blue successfully met their goal of playing a more attacking brand of cricket during the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, with an eye firmly on next year’s T20 World Cup.
India sealed the five-match series by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead after registering an eight wicket win in the third women’s T20I.
Fresh from lifting their maiden ODI World Cup last month, India have already turned their attention to the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in England and Wales from June 12 to July 5 next year.
“It was a great series for all of us. That’s what we discussed after the World Cup that we have to raise our standard and be more aggressive in T20s because the World Cup is coming up so very happy with our overall performances.” Harmanpreet said at the post-match presentation.
Bowlers set the tone
The Indian skipper reserved special praise for the bowling unit, crediting them for keeping Sri Lanka under pressure and limiting them to below par totals throughout the series.
“I think the contribution from our bowlers (has been a highlight) because in T20 cricket, the bowling is very important. Today we are in this position because of our bowlers so credit goes to them.”
Harmanpreet also explained that the rotation of bowlers across the series was a conscious strategy and highlighted Renuka Singh Thakur’s impactful return, where she claimed four wickets for 21 runs.
“First six overs, we know their top order was very important so today we wanted to go with Renuka because she can give us these breakthroughs.
“First over wasn’t something we expected but the way she came back and picked four wickets which was great,” Harmanpreet said.
Sri Lanka search for answers
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu conceded that her side failed to live up to expectations during the series, especially with the bat.
“I feel we are not playing our best cricket throughout the tournament. As a batting unit we have struggled a lot so we need to improve there. We have played the best batting unit we have been using and we have tried some things with the bowling unit but we haven’t been able to work out.”
She, however, pointed to a few positives from the third T20I and said the team would continue experimenting ahead of the World Cup.
“Imesha Dulani batted really well today and Kavisha (Dilhari) also batted well. These were the positives but we are still looking to try some players before the World Cup.”
(With PTI Inputs)
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