India women vs England: We need such games heading into T20 World Cup, says Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet Kaur, the India women’s cricket team captain, rued bowlers not being able to execute their plans in the first T20I against England on Wednesday. The skipper did cut them some slack by saying it was a new lineup and they need to fine tune with the T20 World Cup next year. Shreyanka Patil and Sakia Ishaque came into the Indian bowling as debutantes at the Wankhede Stadium. The bowling struggled after winning the toss and deciding to field as England put together 197/6. In reply, India could muster only 159/6 and lost by 38 runs. “We didn’t follow our plans. They will learn quickly and and we need these kinda games so that we can learn from our mistakes before the T20 World Cup. I know it’s a tough game. We had slight change in bowling department so we will come back stronger,” said Harmanpreet after the match. Read | India's dismal home T20I record continues with loss against England Chasing a mammoth 198 runs, Shafali Verma smashed a 42-ball 52 runs but didn’t get regular support at the other end. “We just needed to back ourselves, we were looking for good start. After a couple of wickets, we had control over the game but the last ten overs didn’t quite go to plan. “We were not upto the mark and we need to discuss positives and come up with a positive attitude in the next game.” India also put up a shoddy effort on the field with multiple fielding lapses only mounting their agony. “I was expecting good fielding, but when you are away from international game, pressure could get to you,” the skipper said. Meanwhile, England skipper Heather Knight was pleased with the team’s work in the field but said they need to ensure they don’t give away too many extras. “It was a good game. It’s the way we want to approach the game, India are a good side and we wanted to put the pressure from the onset. I would have bowled first but really pleased with the way we batted and that score. “A lot of extras we conceded, we could improve on that,” said Knight, referring to the 21 extras. Nat Sciver-Brunt (77), who shared an 87-ball 138 for the third wicket with Danielle Wyatt (75), was adjudged the player of the match. “I am really happy. Been playing cricket in Australia, so really happy to be back with England and put up a performance like this. We wanted to be brave and take the attack to opposition,” she said. “Danni did that pretty well and we were able to build that partnership, she took that pressure off me. What’s great about us is we have different strength. We worked together well in a partnership. Happy for her 100th game. “Wicket was pretty good, there was something for spinners if you bowl in right area and the slower balls were quite effective which made it slightly difficult for the batters.”