4th T20I : India looks for runs from Harmanpreet, Shafali to seal series
India is leading 2-1 in the five-match series but England exposed a few chinks in the visitor’s ranks in the third game at the Oval last week during a five-run win.
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MANCHESTER: India will hope that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and hard-hitting opener Shafali Verma will return to run-making ways in its quest to clinch the women’s T20I series during the fourth match here on Wednesday.
India is leading 2-1 in the five-match series but England exposed a few chinks in the visitor’s ranks in the third game at the Oval last week during a five-run win.
Shafali looked in prime touch during a 25-ball 47 and Harmanpreet made 17-ball 23 but both batters failed to build on the start, robbing India some momentum.
Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur have so far shouldered India’s batting, and they would welcome a stronger support from these two experienced campaigners.
On a personal level too, Shafali will be eager to leave a larger footprint as she is yet to score big since her return to India colours after an eight-month hiatus for this series.
Her returns from the other two matches were 20 and 3.
Harmanpreet, who missed the first match with a head injury that she suffered during a side game, replaced Harleen Deol for the second and third match, but made 1 and 23.
Deol was quite impressive in the first match, making a 23-ball 43 at Nottingham, helping Mandhana maintain her rhythm.
India has been served well in this series by spinners N Shree Charani (8 wickets), Deepti Sharma (6) and pacer Arundhati Reddy (4), as they have managed to fetch regular breakthroughs.
But they will need a bit more backing from left-arm spinner Radha Yadav and pacer Amanjot as they have given away 8.5 and 9 runs per over across the previous three matches.
India women’s team bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi was effusive in his praise of Shree Charani, saying she had the traits to excel at the international level.
“The way she has performed after she had a chance in the ODIs as well as in the T20s, that speaks for itself. And she has those qualities to be successful at the international level. A youngster having so much potential obviously needs to be backed,” Salvi told reporters on the eve of the match.
“She’s very hardworking and has a good mindset as well,” he added.
With India relying more on spin than pace during the series and getting rewarded, the coach said he would persist with the plan.
