London, June 18:
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma sizzled with the bat as India coasted to an emphatic 95-run win over the Netherlands in their 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) slayed a hapless Netherlands attack to fire India to 209/5, their highest total in the tournament history.
The pair shared a 115-run stand off 70 balls after Netherlands put the opposition in to bat.
The Netherlands were never in the run chase despite promising knocks from skipper Babette de Leede (28 off 27 balls) and Sterre Kallis (18 off 13 balls) before being bundled out for 114 in 17.3 overs.
From India’s point of view, the biggest scare came when off-spinner Shreyanka Patil was stretchered off the field after twisting her ankle while fielding off her very first ball of the evening.
India next face a much tougher opponent in South Africa in Manchester on June 21.