Smriti Mandhana dedicates her Player of the Match award to Jhulan Goswami
Sep 19, 2022
Hove [UK], September 19 : Following her side's seven-wicket win against England in the first ODI, Indian batter Smriti Mandhana dedicated her Player of the Match award to veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami, who will be retiring from international cricket after this series.
She also said that the entire series will be dedicated to the Jhulan.
Half-centuries from opener Smriti Mandhana, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia powered India to a seven-wicket win over England in the first ODI held in Hove on Sunday.
"I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I stayed not out, but big thanks to the Indian crowd for coming out to watch, glad we could put up a show for you guys. I think the One Day format is a natural game for me, because I like to go out there and time the ball, in T20Is I need to work on my strike rate. Really happy to score for India regardless of format and get that W on the board," said Smriti during a post-match presentation.
"Good that Harman finally won the toss (laughs), we could see the wicket enough and then I had to resist my backfoot game and play more of the frontfoot, that was a small tweak I made today. I would like to dedicate this medal to Jhunnu di (Jhulan Goswami), this entire series we will be playing to dedicate to Jhunnu di," she added.
With this victory, Team India has a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Put to bat first by Team India, England posted a rather disappointing 227/7 in their 50 overs. Alice Davidson-Richards (50*) and Danni Wyatt (43) were the top scorers for the hosts. Sophie Ecclestone (31) and Charlotte Dean (24*) helped enough during the final overs to push England to a respectable score.
Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with the spell of 2/33. Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol got one wicket each.
Chasing 228, fifties from Mandhana (91), Harmanpreet Kaur (74*) and Yastika Bhatia (50) helped India brush off the English challenge with 34 balls to spare. Indian batting was filled with an attacking intent throughout the innings, something not seen in T20Is. India finished their innings at 232/3 in 44.2 overs. Kate Cross was England's pick of bowlers with the spell of 2/43. Charlotte Dean also took one wicket.
