New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) Indian women’s cricket team secured a 2-1 win in the ODI series against England at Chester-le-Street thanks to skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s seventh ODI ton.

In a video released by the BCCI Women account on ‘X’, Harleen Deol interviewed the India captain and asked her if she has a ‘problem’ with England citing her superior record against them and what her mindset was on the day.

“I don’t have a problem with England; it’s just that I scored my first century against England, which gives me confidence whenever I bat against them. I was thinking of just staying at the wicket, if you are out there the runs will follow. Earlier I felt I was playing very rushed but today the aim was to spend extra time at the crease,” said Harmanpreet.

After Smriti Mandhana’s wicket fell in the 18th over, Harmanpreet and Harleen went on to add 81 runs for the third wicket. The middle-order batter asked her skipper how she evaluated their partnership on the day.

“It was a crucial time, we needed a partnership and also needed to score quickly, as we had already spent time at the crease. From there we needed to score as fast as we could for the team. We calculated well, counted the runs being scored each over, which bowler to attack; we ticked all the boxes needed for a good partnership,” Harmanpreet added.

After Lauren Bell claimed Harleen’s wicket, Jemimah Rodriguez and the India skipper stood tall and stitched up a 110-run stand for the fourth wicket, which directly helped India reach 318/5 and eventually earned the 13-run victory.

“We have seen her (Jemimah Rodriguez) bat well for the team so many times. We talked on the crease that we need to stay out there, and I also took some time; she also felt the same and executed well,” she added.

At 21 years and 345 days, Kranti Gaud became the youngest pace bowler to take 6 or more wickets in a women’s ODI innings. Harmanpreet shared her player of the match honour with the youngster as a token of the potential she showed at Chester-le-Street.

–IANS

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