Bristol: A confident India will aim to capitalise on opener Smriti Mandhana’s sublime form and hope for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s availability to achieve another big win when the second Women’s T20I against England is played here on Tuesday.
Mandhana’s maiden T20I century in the opening game at Nottingham guided India to a massive 97-run win, and the likely presence of skipper Harmanpreet -- who was rested for the first game as a precautionary measure following a head injury sustained during a warm-up match -- for the second game would only add to the hosts’ worries.
Mandhana’s stroke-filled century would have rung alarm bells in the English camp as it tries to find answers to the dramatic batting collapse it suffered while chasing a steep 210-run total.
It was a day when Mandhana’s entertaining innings brought the hosts under tremendous pressure, which was later exploited by the Indian bowlers. India struck twice early and the slow bowler, especially left-arm spinner Shree Charani who grabbed four wickets in her maiden T20I, complete the demolition job.
Mandhana, who led the T20I run-scoring charts last year, seemed to have picked up from where she had left off, smashing all the English bowlers with impunity.
Though the left-handed batter said that the T20I format wasn’t her forte, it was a statement the cricket experts would take with a pinch of salt. The India vice-captain’s power-hitting was on full display as she got most of her boundaries on the off-side.