"Jersey number 7 finishing match with a six, seen this before"- Fans react after Harmanpreet Kaur finishes first ODI vs England with a six
The Indian Women's team beat the England team comprehensively by seven wickets on Sunday, September 18, in the first ODI of the three-match series at the County Ground in Hove. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur remained unbeaten in the chase and finished the match in style with a six in the 45th over.
After being put into bat first, England got off to a poor start courtesy of brilliant spells from Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh in the powerplay as the scoreboard read 26/2 after ten overs.
Danielle Wyatt (43), Sophie Ecclestone (31), and Davidson Richards (53) played sensibly in the middle order and helped England reach a modest total of 227/7. Deepti Sharma (2/33) was the pick of the bowlers for the visiting team.
In response, Kate Cross dismissed aggressive batter Shafali Verma (1) in the second over to give the hosts an early breakthrough. Smriti Mandhana (91 off 99 balls) then forged a 96-run partnership with Yastika Bhatia (50 off 47 balls) to stabilize the innings. The left-handed duo blended caution with aggression perfectly during their stand and scored runs at a healthy rate.
After Bhatia's departure, Harmanpreet Kaur (74*) joined hands with the Indian vice-captain and took their side to the shores of a victory with a 99-run partnership for the third wicket. Smriti Mandhana narrowly missed out on a well-deserved century after a leading edge went straight into the hands of the mid-on fielder in the 37th over.
Harmanpreet Kaur remained calm at the other end and steered India towards victory in the 45th over in the company of Harleen Deol (6 off 20 balls) without any further hiccups.
Smriti Mandhana won the Player of the Match award for her match-winning knock in the chase. Speaking at the post-match presentation, the southpaw said:
"I think I would have enjoyed it a little better if I had been not out for the team. First of all thanks to the Indian crowd for coming over and watching us play. Glad that we could put up a show for these guys. The one-day format is a natural game for me. I like to go out there and just strike the ball."
Fans react after Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur help India take 1-0 in 3-match ODI series against England
Fans on social media enjoyed the contest between India and England women's teams on Sunday. They expressed their views on India's emphatic victory through intriguing posts on Twitter and Instagram platforms.
Here are some of the best reactions:
Jersey no. 18 rulling the cricket World like no other ๐ฅ
@imVkohli @mandhana_smriti
#ViratKohli๐ต #SmritiMandhana #ENGvIND
Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur's partnerships in ODIs in 2022
64, 184, 33 and 99
Runs: 380
Average: 95
#ENGvIND
Harmanpreet Kaur as ODI Captain of India:
* Won 3-0 vs BAN (2013)
* Defeated SA by 1 wkt (2017)
* Lost to AUS by 8 wkts (2018)
* Won 3-0 vs SL (2022)
* Defeated ENG by 7 wkts - Today*
So far Kaur as Captain won 8 out of 9 ODIs for Indian Women's team.
#ENGvIND #ENGvsIND
Women team India is all about
@mandhana_smriti
Or nothing. She scores India performs great or else they collapse.
And ofcourse @JhulanG10
In bowling, absolutely legend without a question
#ENGvIND
Wonderful innings #smritimandhana @mandhana_smriti #ENGvIND
Well deserved victory for the women's team. We're equally good with the bat & ball today. Jhulan Goswami for me was the star with the ball in the 1st half whereas Smriti Mandhana's elegant 91 helped us to chase the target comfortably inside 45 overs.
#ENGvIND | #CricketTwitter
I want to say that this series is for Jhulu di, her bowling was amazing. All our efforts in this series will be for Jhulu di. - Smriti Mandhana #ENGvIND https://t.co/RDIRQ4cGXY
"In this series, whatever the Indian team is gonna do, will be for Jhulu di" - Smriti Mandhana
#ENGvIND https://t.co/N8s4ehoswj
This girl โค๏ธ
We are just lucky that she plays for our team. That's all I wanna say! ๐
#ENGvIND https://t.co/WmMA7ZrIaF
! Fantastic batting by the two Indian lefties led to a comfort chase @mandhana_smriti @YastikaBhatia and finished off in a style by the captain @ImHarmanpreet . #ENGvIND #BleedBlueIndia win โ๏ธ ๐ฎ๐ณ ! Fantastic batting by the two Indian lefties led to a comfort chase @mandhana_smriti @YastikaBhatia and finished off in a style by the captain @ImHarmanpreet . #ENGvIND #BleedBlue
Good win @BCCIWomen ๐๐๐๐ for once we are not playing catch up in a series ๐ ๐ ๐ #ENGvIND
Jersey number 7 and finishing match with a six, seen this before..
Well played skipper @ImHarmanpreet
#engvind @msdhoni https://t.co/0LPhc3J0kx
Smriti Mandhana + Harmanpreet Kaur = ๐ฅ +๐ฅ
#ENGvIND https://t.co/hcvqprfdlw
For the 1st time they played like team this series & result is easy victory.
Smriti Mandhana was class apart in chase as always but a fine efforts from Jhulan, Harmanpreet & Yastika(1st time I saw an Ind-W keeper is a batter too).
#ENGvIND
#CricketTwitter #Cricket https://t.co/6Vbhn55IAf
. 
WOW, what a great chase by us!!๐๐
SMRITI, was again elegant. I feel for her, as she deserved a ๐ฏ.
HARMAN continues her dream year.โค๏ธ
YASTIKA was fantastic too, who laid the platform.๐
#ENGvIND
Top order firing and that run chase was a cake walk.
Superb from @mandhana_smriti , @YastikaBhatia and @ImHarmanpreet. โฅ๏ธ
A good start to series. ๐ฅ
#ENGvIND #CricketTwitter
A perfect win for team India. Smriti's 100 could make it more perfect and a happier victory. But nevertheless brilliant performance altogether. And the best thing is we haven't dropped any ODI Championship point yet. Keep this going team! ๐ช๐
#ENGvIND
India's biggest wins while chasing England in England:
Women's ODI - 7 wickets / 34 balls remaining
Women's T20I - 8 wickets / 20 balls remaining
All these 4 win margins have come in this tour itself.
#ENGvIND
Never Mind @mandhana_smriti !
Missed out a well deserved ton, a treat to watch her bat everytime team needs her. #ENGvIND
Probably the biggest and most crucial moment for this Indian team that happened this year was the return of Harmanpreet Kaur. A lot could have been different had her poor run of form continued in the WC. It's been a dream year so far with the bat for the Indian captain. #ENGvIND
With this brilliant knock of 91 runs from the bat of our Vice Captain Queen Mandhana, India's leading at 1-0.
Whatta game!
#ENGvIND #INDWvsENGW #SmritiMandhana #ODI https://t.co/jvMF1HGVk2
In her 3rd last ODI,
10-2-20-1
Take a bow Jhulan GOATswami!
#ENGvIND https://t.co/ia1v23wWt9
The two sides will next lock horns in the second ODI of the series on September 21, Wednesday, at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.