‘Some of us didn’t read the ball well’, admits Harmanpreet Kaur after second T20I defeat

Mumbai: After India had a forgettable time with the batting in their six-wicket defeat to England in the second T20I, captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted that some of the batters weren’t able to read the deliveries well and fell in quick succession.

At the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday evening, lots of misjudgements from India’s batters in response to tight lines and lengths from the bowlers saw them being bowled out for 80 in 16.2 overs, their lowest T20I total against England and third fewest in their overall T20I history.

The Indian bowlers took out six England wickets, but the visitors had completed the chase in 11.2 overs to take an unassailable series lead, with the final T20I to happen on Sunday evening being a dead rubber effectively.

“We always want to play with a positive approach, but unfortunately some of us didn’t read the ball well and they also bowled really well and didn’t allow us to score freely. Proud of my team, we fought till the last run which is good to see.”

“Another 30-40 runs could have made a huge difference. After losing early wickets, we were thinking 120, but couldn’t do it. But still, our bowlers were ready to take up the challenge and bowled the way we wanted,” said Harmanpreet after the match ended.

Player of the match, off-spinner Charlie Dean bowled a quality spell to take out India openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana to finish with figures of 2-16, and England skipper Heather Knight was delighted with her performance, adding that they are now eyeing to win the series 3-0.

“A really brilliant game and the crowd was outstanding, you really felt the pressure out in the middle. She (Dean) bowled a lot for us in the powerplay, she also allows us to have that balance in the side and I thought our bowling group bowled really well.”

“I thought it was quite hard for our openers and I thought Renuka bowled really well and the job was to score as many in the powerplay and not lose too many wickets. We have a Test match coming up and we want to win the series 3-0.”

–IANS