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India Women Smriti Mandhana on Friday heaped praise on her side's bowling attack and said that they did a good job in a win against Ireland in the first ODI match of the series at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
Mandhana played a 41-run knock from 29 balls at a strike rate of 141.38 while chasing the 239-run target. She smashed 6 fours and 1 six. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Mandhana said that the India Women's Team need to work on their fielding. She added that the conversations before the game helped the team. "To bowl on these sort of wickets, which have nothing in it, the bowlers did a really good job. Fielding is something we can get better at. Having good conversations in the last two or three days helped... the way they executed the slower balls and bouncers. Every game here on, we need to execute. Some things we need to do behind the scene. Routine wise, every player has to follow it for the next seven-eight months," Mandhana was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying. During the run chase, openers Smriti Mandhana (41 runs from 29 balls, 6 fours and 1 six) and Pratika Rawal (89 runs from 96 balls, 10 fours and 1 six) gave India a good kickstart. Tejal Hasabnis (53* runs from 46 balls, 9 fours) put up a show and made a solid partnership with Pratika to chase down the target. Tejal and Pratika cemented a 116-run partnership which helped India chase down the target in just 35 overs. In the end, Tejal and Richa Ghosh (8* runs from 2 balls, 2 fours) stayed unbeaten on the crease and assisted India clinched a six-wicket victory over Ireland. Aimee Maguire led the Irish bowling attack with her three-wicket haul in the eight-over spell. However, it was not enough to restrict the given target. Earlier, Ireland won the toss and sent India to field first in the first ODI match of the series in Rajkot. Ireland captain Gaby Lewis (92 runs from 129 balls, 15 fours) displayed a stupendous performance in the first inning, with the help of her knock the visitors propelled to 238/7 after batting first. Leah Paul (59 runs from 73 balls, 7 fours) stood up against the Indian bowling attack and added a few crucial runs on the board. At the end of the first inning, Coulter Reilly (15* runs from 26 balls, 1 four) and Georgina Dempsey (6* runs from 3 balls, 1 four) stayed unbeaten on the crease and took Ireland to 238/7 after the end of 50 overs. Priya Mishra led the Indian bowling attack following her two-wicket haul in the nine-over spell. Sayali Satghare also picked up her maiden international wicket on Friday. (ANI)
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