Smriti Mandhana opens up on first Commonwealth Games win, medal hopes

Smriti Mandhana, who led India’s first Commonwealth 2022 win on Sunday, said that winning a medal for the country would be special. Harmanpreet Kaur and co defeated Pakistan by eight wickets and now sit on top of the Group A. 

Also read: Harmanpreet Kaur overtakes MS Dhoni for T20I wins as India captain

Mandhana scored an unbeaten 63 off 42 balls with the help of eight boundaries and three maximums. Riding on the star opener’s knock, India chased down a 100-run target with 38 balls to spare after the rain-hit match was reduced to 18 overs a side. 

The women in blue were asked to bowl first in the must-win game. The bowlers put up a tight show, reducing Bismah Maroof and co to 99 runs. A 61-run opening stand betweeb Mandhana and Shafali Verma put India in the driver seat early in the second innings. 

Also read: Jeremy Lalrinnunga sets new Commonwealth Games records in gold-winning campaign

Now the team will play the Barbados Women in their last group match on August 3. For qualifying for the knock-outs, they will have to win the game. 

“For our qualification, it was important for us to win against Pakistan. I was happy to contribute to team’s victory. This first win at CWG feels special. Competing at CWG itself feels special because we had never thought of representing India at such a multi-sport event. Winning a medal would be special for us,” Mandhana told ANI.

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Sneh Rana (2/15) and Radha Yadav (2/18) were India’s stars with the ball. Renuka Singh (1/20), Meghna Singh (1/21) and Shafali Verma (1/8) snapped one wicket each. Opener Muneeba Ali was the top-scorer with a 30-ball 32.

Also read: Watch: Jeremy Lalrinnunga’s gold-winning lift at Commonwealth Games 2022

In the second innings, Verma was dismissed for 16 runs off 9 balls. Omaima Sohail got rid of Sabbhineni Meghana for 14.

Harmanpreet Kaur, after the win vs Bismah Maroof and co, overtook MS Dhoni has the most successful Indian captain, in T20Is, going by the number of wins. The 33-year-old has 42 while the former India skipper, who retired from international cricket in 2019, had 41.