“At least 1 Indian team can play in English conditions” - Micheal Vaughan praises India Women by trolling Virat Kohli’s men
Former England captain Michael Vaughan took a dig at Virat Kohli’s team by praising India Women for their performance against England Women in the second ODI in Taunton.
Although India Women lost the second game by five wickets to concede the three-match series, they put up a tough fight while defending a modest target of 222 runs. They had England Women in trouble at 133 for 5, but Sophia Dunkley starred with an unbeaten 73 to take the hosts home.
Taking to his official Twitter account, Michael Vaughan hailed India Women for posing a challenge to England and wrote:
“The Indian women’s team are putting in an excellent display today … Good to see at least 1 Indian cricket team can play in English conditions.”
The second part of the tweet was meant to troll the Indian men’s team. Team India, led by Kohli, were trounced by New Zealand by eight wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in Southampton. India went down without a fight despite two full days being lost to rain.
Coming back to the India Women’s clash, they were bowled out for 221 after being sent into bat by England. India Women captain Mithali Raj again top-scored with 59, while Shafali Verma contributed 44. However, the middle and lower order failed to get going as the visitors were bowled out in exactly 50 overs, with Kate Cross claiming 5 for 34.
India Women fought back hard with the ball. Jhulan Goswami cleaned up Tammy Beaumont for ten, while Poonam Yadav got rid of England captain Heather Knight (10) and Amy Jones (28). However, they failed to dislodge Dunkley, who eased England past India Women’s score with support from Katherine Brunt (33 not out).
It wasn't a winning total: India Women batter Harmanpreet Kaur
Speaking after India Women’s disappointing defeat, senior batter Harmanpreet Kaur admitted that the team did not get enough runs on the board. Speaking at the post-match conference, Kaur said:
“It wasn't a winning total. In ODIs, you need to get at least 250 to win games. We know our bowlers are good, and they kept us in the game. But yes, it was a below-par total. We did believe we had a chance, but credit goes to their batters. They batted really well. We just want to go with the best XI. Every game is important for us.”
The third ODI of the three-match series between India Women and England Women will be played in Worcester on Saturday, July 3.