Ind W vs Eng W: We've done quite a bit of homework on Poonam, says Sciver
Jul 10, 2021
Northampton [UK], July 10 : Natalie Sciver, who smashed a joint-fastest fifty by an England woman in the first T20I against India, said she was wary of the threat posed by spinner Poonam Yadav.
Sciver and Amy Jones smashed 55 and 43 runs respectively as England defeated India in the rain-curtailed first T20I on Friday. Sciver said the England team had done their homework before facing Poonam in the opening T20I.
"It [Poonam's bowling] is something we've been mindful of over the last couple of years, back in the [2018] T20 World Cup as well," ESPNcricinfo quoted Sciver as saying.
"She, obviously, bowls very slowly, but I guess my strength in general, off spin, is back-foot [shots] and to be able to read it whether or not it's short enough for me to get onto the back foot -- it's important as well as meeting the ball when you can on the front foot.
"We've faced her a lot and done quite a bit of homework on her. Think we played her pretty well today," she added.
The star all-rounder knew the wicket was good but she wasn't thinking to score runs quickly.
"[It] felt good. I wasn't thinking about the speed of it. When I did get the strike, I was thinking quite boundary-oriented," said Sciver.
"I knew the wicket was quite good and that with their batters we needed to get a good score. It was good to bat through the innings and then get a partnership with Amy [Jones] to get us up to a good total," she added.
England scored 177 runs in 20 overs and then restricted India to 54/3 in 8.4 overs before rain stopped the play. Since the DLS par score at that stage was 72, India lost the match by 18 runs.