Leeds, Jun 17 (PTI) Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma slayed a hapless Netherlands attack to fire India to 209/5 in their second Women’s T20 World Cup match here on Wednesday.
The Indian opening duo of Mandhana (74 off 47 balls) and Shafali (55 off 38 balls) shared a 115-run stand off 70 balls after Netherlands put the opposition in to bat.
It was a second successive fifty-plus score for Mandhana while Shafali completed her maiden tournament half-century.
India made two changes to their playing eleven, bringing in Yastika Bhatia for Bharti Fulmali while replacing Arundhati Reddy with Nandani Sharma.
Shafali was more aggressive than Mandhana in the powerplay during which India collected 59 runs.
The Netherlands bowlers were all over the place and Shafali
made them pay. Her aerial drive over extra cover off pacer Isabel Woning stood out in the first six overs.
Netherlands captain Babette de Leede was forced to make frequent bowling changes as a result of Shafali’s onslaught.
Myrthe van den Raad could not make her line right in the sixth over, conceding as many as six wides.
Mandhana got into her element post the powerplay, stepping out to spinners and pacers alike.
The star Indian opener collected four boundaries off as many balls in the 15th over bowled by Silver Siegers.
Following the departure of the openers, Jemimah Rodrgues and captain Harmanpreet Kaur could not provide the final flourish.
However, India were able to record their highest total in World Cup history after timely cameos from Rich Ghosh (20 off 8 balls) and Deepti Sharma (10 off 2 balls). PTI BS PDS
