Hove : Indian batsman Smriti Mandhana, who was instrumental in helping her team win the first ODI against England by seven wickets, has dedicated her player of the match award to veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami, who retired from international cricket after this series. She also said that the entire series will be dedicated to Jhulan.
Fifties from opener Smriti Mandhana, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and wicketkeeper-batsman Yastika Bhatia helped India beat England by seven wickets in the first ODI at Hove on Sunday.
Smriti said after the match, I think I would have had a little more fun if I had remained unbeaten, many thanks to the Indian audience for coming to the stadium to watch the match, glad we are presenting a wonderful show for you guys. I think the one-day format is natural for my game, because I like to go on the pitch and give time, in T20s I need to work on my strike rate.
It’s good that Harman finally won the toss (laughs), we were able to see enough of the wicket and then I had to play more on the front foot than on the back foot. The innings I got today won the player of the match award, he said. I would like to dedicate that award to Jhunnu Di (Jhulan Goswami), we will play this entire series to dedicate Jhunnu Di.
With this win, Team India has taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Talking about the match, the England team, who came to bat first in the match, scored 227 runs for 7 wickets in their 50 overs. Ellis Davidson-Richards (50*) and Danny Wyatt (43) were the top scorers for the hosts. Sophie Ecclestone (31) and Charlotte Dean (24*) were instrumental in helping England reach a respectable score during the final overs.
For India, Deepti Sharma got 2 and Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol got one wicket each.
In reply, India won the match by scoring 232 for three in 44.2 overs thanks to excellent batting from Mandhana (91), Harmanpreet Kaur (74*) and Yastika Bhatia (50). For England, Kate Cross took 2 and Charlotte Dean took one wicket.