After a slow start to her campaign in the ongoing Women's World T20, Indian batting star Smriti Mandhana finally found form in the match against Australia. On the back of her attacking 83, India posted 167 in their alloted quota of 20 overs.
The bowlers did enough to peg back Australia as India won the match by 48 runs and remained unbeaten in the league stage.
The left-hander said that she felt very relieved after her knock and that she wanted to convert her good start.
"I feel quite relieved as I was getting starts but not converting them. I wanted to go out there and score big runs so I was glad that I could do it today."
The umpire review system is being used for the first time in this tournament and this came to help Mandhana early in her innings. She was given out LBW off Sophie Molineux's bowling but after deliberations, she chose to review. Subsequent replays eventually overturned the umpire's decision.
'Whenever the ball hits my pads, I always think it is out'
"Whenever the ball hits my pads, I always think it is out, I don't know why! But she (Veda Krishnamurthy) told me to take the review. Thanks to her, we got 20-30 runs extra." she said.
The India bowlers were disciplined in their approach and received good backing from the fielders and this drew praise from the opening batter.
"The way we bowled and fielded today was probably the best we did all tournament. In that aspect, this win was special," Mandhana said.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who had asked her team to be sharper after the match against Pakistan, was pleased with the all-round display of her team.
"Credit must go to the girls for the way we played today. We worked really hard, today the fielding coach must be happy with the way we fielded. We always enjoy when batting together. She (Mandhana) played really well and that is what we are expecting from her," she said.
Australian captain Meg Lanning said that the pitch was slow and gave credit to Kaur and Mandhana for their efforts.
