Taunton, June 4:
India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana attributed the team’s six-wicket defeat to England in the third T20I to their inability to build pressure through dot balls, a lapse she hopes the side will rectify ahead of the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup.
Despite reducing England to 35 for 3 early on, India failed to sustain the momentum as a crucial 137-run partnership between Alice Capsey and Heather Knight turned the game in the hosts’ favour.
Mandhana acknowledged that while England played quality shots, India missed opportunities to tighten the screws. “In hindsight, we could have built pressure with more dot balls.
That’s something we need to improve and not repeat in the World Cup,” she said.
The series loss, however, was not without positives for India. Mandhana praised skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s fluent 56 and noted that the batting unit appears in good rhythm.
Looking ahead to the World Cup opener against Pakistan, Mandhana urged a broader focus. “We don’t need to hype just one match. The entire World Cup is important, and we want to put up a strong show,” she added.