The Indian women's cricket team went down to England by 4 runs in an important ICC Women's ODI World Cup game. England took the field first and achieved 288 runs for 8 wickets in 50 overs. India, pursuing the goal, achieved 284 runs for 6 wickets, but fell short of winning.
Smriti Mandhana had scored 88 runs off 94 deliveries, including 8 fours. Harmanpreet Kaur scored 70 runs off 70 deliveries with 10 fours, and Deepti Sharma had scored 50 runs off 57 deliveries with 5 fours. Though their batting was robust, India was unable to win the game.
Mandhana put together a 125-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur and a further 67-run partnership with Deepti Sharma. But at a moment of urgency, Mandhana played a lofted shot to long off and lost her wicket. Shortly afterwards, Deepti Sharma also lost her wicket trying a big-shot. These two losing wickets changed the game in favor of England.
Smriti Mandhana took responsibility for her dismissal after the game. She commented that the shot selection by the team was not good and that she should have played more cautiously.
"Our shot choice wasn't great today. My shot choice could have been better. We required six runs an over and would have done that with a bit more patience. Wicket fall began with me. It was a mis-hit, and I got dismissed. I should have been there for longer," Mandhana added in the post-match press conference.
Team India will face New Zealand on Thursday in Navi Mumbai. India has won just two out of their five matches and need to win the remaining two games — vs New Zealand and Bangladesh — to qualify for the semi-finals.
