30 June,2025 07:39 AM IST | Nottingham | Santosh Suri
India’s Smriti Mandhana en route her 112 against England in the first T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, on Saturday. Pic/AP; PTI
Smriti Mandhana had 11 centuries in ODIs and two in Test matches, but none in T20Is, with the highest being 87. She finally got the monkey off her back by playing one of her best T20 knocks in the first game against England at Trent Bridge on Saturday, scoring 112 off 62 balls. She became only the second centurion for India in the shortest format. She is now the only Indian woman with hundreds in all three formats. More than the personal milestone, she was happy that her knock helped India make a winning start to the five-match series in a commanding fashion.
"I am happy that finally I have a T20I century after coming close to it many times. It was pretty frustrating to get out in the 70s and 80s over the last 10 years. But I'm happier that it came in a winning cause. I am more of a timer of the ball and not a power-hitter, thus I had centuries in ODIs and Tests, but it was missing in T20Is. Over time, I have evolved my game to put more power behind my strokes. So, getting a T20 century is really satisfying," Mandhana said after India defeated England by 97 runs in a one-sided match.
When mid-day asked her at the post-match media interaction if batting first proved to be an advantage, she said, "Like we know, the surface at Trent Bridge is great to bat on. Generally, it does not change much during a match. Had I won the toss, I too would have preferred to chase a total. Luckily, we played excellent cricket and after getting past the 200-mark, the home team were under pressure. We knew that even after a formidable total, we would need to bowl well and our spinners, including debutant Shree Charani, were spot on. The result does not mean that England are inferior. I am sure they will come hard at us and we will have to be ready to take them on with consistent performance."
Mandhana showed great acumen in the way she used the bowlers, especially spinners, judiciously.
The move to bring off-spinner Deepti Sharma for the second over paid dividends as she struck with her first ball. Thereafter, Mandhana rotated the spinners well and never allowed England to get away. The regular fall of wickets meant that the home team were on the back foot right through. With her excellent batting and brilliant captaincy, Mandhana made this game the most memorable for her in T20Is.
"The way the bowlers bowled and executed the plan, it was just amazing," Mandhana said. "That makes our job very, very easy when they bowl like that and they all were really focused, they knew their plans, especially Shree, to come in the first match and bowl. We saw what she could do in the WPL a little bit. She always looked like a really good bowler. But today, the way she bowled was amazing, as did all the [other] bowlers."
When Harmanpreet Kaur returns for the second game in Bristol on Tuesday, depending on medical advice, it will be interesting to see how the original captain takes this winning momentum into the next match.
