With a convincing eight-wicket victory against England in the second T20 International at the County Ground in Derby, India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes that sheer confidence and a calculated approach helped the visitors tie the three-match series. India responded impressively to a morale-damaging loss in the opening game in drizzly, wet circumstances to record a series-clinching victory and go to Thursday's decider in Bristol.
"I'm really happy, we played well. Everyone was looking forward to winning today, that's something I'm happy about. We do have plans for all batters, but it was important that we executed them, the fielders supported the bowlers well," Following the encounter on Tuesday night, Harmanpreet stated.
"We are improving as a fielding side, the way Radha fielded, she got injured in the last game, I'm happy with her effort today. Whenever we bat together (herself and Smriti), we have the confidence, we can calculate the approach well, the right-left combination is always a positive for us," she added.
The visitors' opening batswoman Smriti Mandhana, whose brilliant unbeaten half-century (79 off 53 balls) carried India to victory and secured a key victory, said the goal was to return stronger and tie the series.
"We were keen to come back stronger and level the series. I was pushing myself and happy that I could contribute to the victory. Good weather to bat (in England), before the CWG games, I think I found the going touch," Smriti said. "Player of the Match - In T20 cricket, you'd look to try and get a good start to the team. Happy to contribute to the team," she added.
Smriti commended Shefali Verma, her opening partner, with whom she put together 55 runs for the first wicket, giving India the advantage early on in their pursuit. "It depends on the day and the bowlers. Two years back, she (Shafali Verma) perhaps was just trying to dominate, but she now knows whom to target and to respect good bowling. The good thing is we can both take advantage of the batting powerplay, whoever is in good touch takes the lead in doing so," she said.
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