Indian women's team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was ecstatic as the Girls in Blue won the second T20I against England in Derby by 8 wickets and leveled the series 1-1 with one match to go.
England batted first after winning the toss but managed 142/6 which came thanks to 51* from Freya Kemp and 34 from Maia Bouchier. For India, Sneh Rana picked three wickets.
In reply, Smriti Mandhana led the chase with a clinical 79* in 53 balls with 13 fours and Harmanpreet scored 29* as India won by 8 wickets in the 17th over.
After the match, Harmanpreet said that the sheer confidence and calculative approach towards the match helped India level the series after a really demoralizing defeat in the first game against England.
"I'm really happy, we played well. Everyone was looking forward to winning today, that's something I'm happy about. We do have plans for all batters, but it was important that we executed them, the fielders supported the bowlers well," Harmanpreet said after the match on Tuesday night.
"We are improving as a fielding side, the way Radha fielded, she got injured in the last game, I'm happy with her effort today. Whenever we bat together (herself and Smriti), we have the confidence, we can calculate the approach well, and the right-left combination is always a positive for us," she added.
Smriti Mandhana, who won the Player of the Match for her unbeaten 79 runs off 53 balls, said the aim was to come back stronger.
"We were keen to come back stronger and level the series. I was pushing myself and happy that I could contribute to the victory. Good weather to bat (in England), before the CWG games, I think I found the going tough. Player of the Match - In T20 cricket, you'd look to try and get a good start to the team. Happy to contribute to the team," Smriti said.
The team will play the third T20I match against England in Bristol on Thursday.
(PTI inputs)
