Dew is one of the factors India made a genuine mistake in not considering before the ICC Women's World T20 semi-final against England at Antigua, feels left-hand opening batter Smriti Mandhana.
Having dominated the group stage, India arrived into the knock-out round as firm favourites to clinch the trophy. But it all fell apart on the day, as their batting collapsed for just 112 in the first innings before eventually going down disappointedly by eight wickets on Thursday, November 22.
"We didn’t consider the dew factor. We had played 11 am matches, and had not played any 8pm match," Mandhana was quoted saying by ICC, "Even when we practised, we hadn’t seen any dew, so we didn’t think it would play a factor. But that played a huge factor as rather than spinning, our ball started skidding."
She further addressed the on-field mistakes that the Harmanpreet Kaur led side made and reflected back at the comfort with which the rampaging English batters played off the backfoot and took singles.
“We could have had more single-saving fielders in the ring so that we encouraged them to hit us over the top, because only wickets could win us the match and not playing 20 overs. I thought we could have been better on that part," the 22-year-old admitted.
The free-flowing, classical left-hander also talked about her individual performance in the tournament and reiterating the importance of backing herself despite the few failures, said, “Definitely it has worked for us in the last three months. Whatever happened [in the semi-final], if you just [discount] it, the way we have played over the last three months as a group has been brilliant. No one even gave us a chance to do well in the World Cup."
“Ramesh [Powar, the coach] had given specific roles to each person, and that helped in the last 14 games we played in Sri Lanka, against Australia A and in last four matches."
“Only if you lose one game, you cannot change your tactics or the strategy that has worked for you. Going forward, it is best to give one person a specific role, or if that person is not able to do it then you can identify other players who could be able to fit into that role,” she signed off.
Australia and England now lock horns in the final that takes place at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua on Saturday, November 24.
