Women’s T20 Asia Cup: Our bowlers and openers did their job, says Harmanpreet Kaur

Dambulla: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur praised the bowlers and openers for their leading role in securing a comfortable win over Pakistan in their first match of the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup.

The bowlers shone in a top-class performance to bowl Pakistan for 108 and lay the foundation for a seven-wicket victory at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Friday. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana shared an opening stand of 85 runs off just 57 balls to help India secure the total with 35 balls to go.

“Our bowlers and openers did their job. The first match is always a pressure game that sets the tone. Our entire unit played really well. When we were bowling, we were talking about early breakthroughs. With the bat, credit goes to Smriti and Shafali. We want to continue playing fearless cricket. The way we played today, we are very happy with that,” Harmanpreet said after the match.

Off-spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma took 3-20 and was named Player of the Match for being the best bowler for India. “I feel very good because I was able to perform according to the plan. I was confident. As a unit, we have been doing well in the last few months. The camps we have had have helped a lot. I worked on my bowling after the South Africa series, so that helped. Nida Dar is a good batter, so her wicket was important.”

Pakistan captain Nida Dar lamented that the powerplay was the difference between the two teams. The powerplay phase literally summed up the result: Pakistan lost three wickets, while India lost none.

“The difference was the two Power Plays, we lost there. We struggled with batting and the positive is the bowling unit – they did well. We need to come together and talk about plans for the next match. The main (issue) is Power Plays – if you win Power Plays, you win matches. We have looked at the wicket and we will plan better for the next matches,” she concluded.

(CDA)