Chandigarh: During the first ODI between India and England played at The Rose Bowl in Southampton, there was a moment when one got a glimpse of a shot that Rishabh Pant has made famous – a one-handed six.
Playing that shot was none other than the most consistent and impactful left-handed batter in the women’s team, Deepti Sharma.
In the 38th over of the second innings, she struck a ball from Lauren Bell so cleanly that it didn’t even matter that one hand was off the handle.With a big smile on her face, she walked over to her team-mate Jemimah Rodrigues to share the joy.
On Wednesday, the 27-year-old Sharma scored an unbeaten and composed 62 off 64 balls as India successfully chased down a target of 259 in the opening match of the three-match series against England to help the visitors take 1-0 lead. With this knock, Sharma has once again proved how dangerous she can be in the finisher’s role.
Openers Pratika Rawal (36 off 51) and Smriti Mandhana (28 off 24) added 48 runs before the latter was the first batter to be dismissed.
Pratika and Harleen Deol steadied the ship and took the total to 94 before the opener was dismissed.
Deol and captain Harmanpreet Kaur tried to steady the ship but Deol fell thanks to some really poor cricket. She failed to ground her bat despite being well in and was run out by a direct throw from Alice Davidson-Richards after scoring 27 runs off 44 balls.
With 124 on the board, Kaur was adjudged leg before wicket on Charlie Dean’s bowling bringing the spotlight on Sharma and Rodrigue, who combined well to stitch together a 90-run partnership to help India win.
Later, Sharma also credited Pant for her shot selection and threw light on what was going through her mind during her knock and partnership with Rodrigues.
“I was waiting for an opportunity like this. I wanted to build a partnership with Jemimah, scoring 5-6 runs an over consistently.I have worked a lot on sweep shots in my early days, and it helps on this kind of track. I play one-handed shots in practice, I picked that up from Rishabh Pant. We have played in England before, we enjoy these conditions.”
Earlier, England were restricted at 258/6 by India bowlers. It was Sophia Dunkley (83 off 92) and Davidson-Richards (53 off 73) partnership of 106 runs which revived the England innings after they were 97/4. England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who made a comeback in the team after a groin injury, scored 41 off 52 while Emma Lamb made 39 off 50. Dunkley, reprieved on 23 and 43, fell on the final ball of the innings bowled by medium-pacer Amanjot Kaur.
In the bowling department for India, off-spinner Sneh Rana was the pick of the lot, claiming two wickets for 31 runs. Medium-pacer Kranti Goud also took twin dismissals but leaked as many as 55 runs in nine overs.
Speaking about her knock, Sharma said, “I was not nervous because I played in this kind of situation earlier and a few matches back also. I knew that if I played till the end with Jemi, we could take the game. I was quite confident that if I am there, I will have to finish and I was focusing more on that. I know that I can be calm and composed. The partnership with Jemi was a turning point for us. We had to focus on partnership when I was batting with Jemi.”
This series is India’s second-last 50-over series before the World Cup, with one more at home against Australia starting on September 14. The Women’s ODI World Cup begins on September 30, with India facing Sri Lanka in their opening match.
“Just in terms of preparation for the World Cup, I think as a team, we did some really good things in Sri Lanka and here also. The World Cup is a little too far (away). We are not thinking about that but definitely we are going one match at a time. That is what we are thinking at the moment,” added Sharma, whose innings included a six and three fours.
In the end, Amanjot played an important cameo of 20 runs (14 balls) to seal the win. India now take on England on July 19 at the Lords cricket ground.