India stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana said the five-year wait they had to go through to win a T20I series at home did not “reflect” the team’s capabilities, a fact she reminded her colleagues ahead of the series decider here on Thursday. Put in to bat, India dished out a dominating batting display. Mandhana (77; 47b) set the foundation before Richa Ghosh (54; 21b) equalled the record for the joint-quickest fifty as the hosts posted their highest T20I total of 217/4. In response, West Indies were limited to 157/9 as India sealed the three-match series 2-1, their first series victory at home since 2019.

“After the last match, I told the girls it has been five years that we have not won a T20I series. That does not reflect the team we are,” Mandhana said.

“I told them that today, we have an opportunity to do that and we just want to keep doing the right things,” added Mandhana.

Mandhana hit a third successive fifty, continuing her red-hot form from the ODI series Down Under where she posted a century in the last match.

“The batting line-up we had, there were a few youngsters coming in, so there was a bit of added responsibility and that kind of thing goes well if you really put your head into it, and when I do that, I probably bat better.” “We lost all three tosses, so had to bat first and that is the harder thing to do (here). Really happy we could put up (a score) and loved the way Richa batted.” On the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur, she said: “Harman has been a pillar in the middle-order. Whenever she is there, you know that if something happens, she will be there.” She was also all praise for rookie Raghvi Bist who made a fine 22-ball 31 not out.

“The girls stepped up beautifully. The way Raghvi batted was impressive. She came in with lots of intent and hitting her fourth or fifth ball for six, I would not have been able to do that in my second match.” Player-of-the-Match, Richa, credited the team’s strong start for the win.

“We got a good start, the way everyone batted. I just wanted to continue that and whenever the ball was in my slot, I tried to hit it,” said Richa.

“In the nets, I think about the match and try to clear (the fence). If the ball is in my slot, whether it is the first ball or the last ball, it does not matter. It feels very good when you contribute (towards such a win and such a series victory).” West Indies captain Hayley Matthews admitted their bowling lacked discipline on a challenging wicket.

“We probably did not bowl as well as we wanted to. It was one of those wickets where we had a very small margin for error. We were not on it with the ball and missed our lengths more often than we wanted,” Matthews said.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday backed the Indian women’s team to regain confidence in home conditions during the three-match T20I series against the West Indies, following a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign and a 0-3 defeat in Australia. Having failed to progress beyond the group stage in the T20 World Cup in October, India bounced back with a 2-1 ODI series win against New Zealand at home. However, their 0-3 loss in the ODI series in Australia has once again put the team under significant pressure.

“After the World Cup, we played against New Zealand, we did really well in the home conditions and Australia tour result was not something which we were expecting but lot of learnings for us,” Kaur told the media here before India’s training session ahead of the first T20I against the West Indies.

“In India, whenever we (have) played, we (have) played good cricket, the only (disappointing) thing was (the) World Cup and then the Australia tour which didn’t go according to our plans but apart from that, if I see in this year, we played really good cricket, we won lot of matches in home conditions.” “These things happen and as a team, it’s very important for us to stay together and think about all the positives we have done in the past,” she said.

Kaur said India’s bowling attack was relatively young in Australia and has learned valuable lessons from the experience. “Our bowling attack was quite young (in Australia) and for them, it was a great learning playing against such a good team where (they could) see how good players play and how they can improve,” she said.

Kaur, however, refused to comment on the exclusion of Shafali Verma for T20Is against West Indies despite the right-handed batter being second highest run-scorer this year.

“I would say, ask the right person. I can only talk about the team, (the) team is here and what (all) things we can do to win this series. Regarding Shefali or any other player, (it is) better to ask the right persons,” Kaur replied.

There was very little turnaround time after playing their final T20I in Perth on Wednesday and Kaur acknowledged the scheduling challenges.

“I am not the right person to answer that. You can definitely ask the right person,” she said when asked if the scheduling could’ve been better.

“To be honest, it is difficult because we are coming from Australia and after the game, only within 4-5 hours we left the country and came back to India ,” she said.

“But as a professional, these things happen and we just want to stay motivated and yesterday was a totally off day. We tried to rest well and tomorrow is another game, so looking forward for that.” Kaur said the team had “good talks” on the way back from Australia.

“When we were coming back from Australia, we had good talks in the flight because that was the only time when we can talk and think about how we can start this series. We discussed about how we have to go about in this particular series,” she said.

“When you have very less time, it’s very difficult to reflect on things which we have done in the past. Staying together is something which is very important and which we have been doing. Whatever (is) in our hands, we are doing that to turn things around.” Kaur backed Uttarakhand’s Nandini Kashyap and Raghvi Bisht, who received their maiden call-ups for this series, to come good.

“Both of them (have) done really well in the (Senior Women’s T20) Challenger Trophy and because of that they have got the opportunity. For them, it’s a great platform and I hope they will do really well for the team because if we see, we have very limited girls,” Kaur said.

“(It is) good to see them doing really well in the domestic format and hopefully, they will take the responsibility and start doing well for the country at (the) international level,” Kaur added.

The Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Friday unveiled the country’s new ODI jersey at the Board’s headquarters in Mumbai. The women’s team will don the new jersey during the three-match ODI series against the West Indies to be played in Vadodara from December 22. “It’s an honour to unveil the jersey today and really happy that we are the first ones who is going to wear this jersey against the West Indies team,” said Harmanpreet.

“Really happy, really like the look. The tri-colour on the shoulder is looking really beautiful and really happy that we’ve got a special ODI jersey,” she added.

BCCI Headquarters, Mumbai

Mr Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI & Ms Harmanpreet Kaur, Captain, Indian Cricket Team unveiled #TeamIndia‘s new ODI jersey @JayShah | @ImHarmanpreet | @adidas pic.twitter.com/YujTcjDHRO

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 29, 2024

Before the home series, the Harmanpreet-led Indian team will tour Australia for a three-match ODI series from December 5 to 11.

Harmanpreet said wearing the Team India jersey was always special as a lot of hard work goes towards owning it.

“I would like the Indian fans to also wear this jersey and feel proud.”

On the other hand, the Indian men’s cricket team will don the new jersey around two months later during their ODI series against England, starting February 6.

India would aim to figure out their batting combination for next week’s day-night Test in Adelaide when they face Australia Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day tour game at the Manuka Oval in Canberra from Saturday.

India have played four day-night Tests thus far with their only loss coming at Adelaide four years ago when they were bowled out for 36 before making a winning comeback in the four-match Test series.

The pink ball does a lot more compare to the red cherry, especially in the twilight period. Considering it is not a first-class game, majority of the Indian batters would like to get a feel of the ball in the middle.

Coming from their most dominant win in Australia in the opening Test in Perth, the Indian dressing room is in high spirits.

A 12-run defeat in the first game putting them on the backfoot, India Women would to look to dish out an improved batting and fielding performance in the second T20 International and bounce back in the the three-match series against South Africa here on Sunday. Dropped catches and batters’ lack of intent in the middle overs had cost India dear in the opening match on Friday, as they could only score 177 for 4 in 20 overs after South Africa had posted 189 for 4, thanks to Tazmin Brits (81) and Marizanne Kapp (57).

It was South Africa’s first win in the ongoing tour. They had earlier suffered a 0-3 whitewash in the ODI series followed by a 10-wicket loss in the one-off Test in the tour spanning close to a month now.

Both the camps have concerns to deal with following Friday’s match. India’s Richa Ghosh and South Africa’s Brits had gone off the field with concussion and cramps respectively.

As per the BCCI’s statement, Richa had “neck pain and dizziness” following a failed catch attempt, with the ball hitting her face. Her face too seemingly hit the ground.

“She has been sent for further scans & the BCCI Medical Team is monitoring her progress,” read the BCCI’s statement.

As for Brits, she had to be stretchered out of the field with a severe contusion on her right lower leg. However, she did come for the post-match press conference and affirmed that she would be good to go in the upcoming games.

For the hosts, while their bowling performance was decent, the poor fielding caught everyone off-guard, with three dropped catches and a few mis-fields.

The fielding flop show will definitely be one aspect that will be playing at the back of the home players’ minds on Sunday, especially given that head coach Amol Muzumdar is extremely strict about it.

As for batting, the Indian top order needs to add a bit more flair, barring Smriti Mandhana, who has been in fine touch lately.

However, the Indian middle order has been efficient, thanks to captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues, who made 35 and 53 not out respectively on Friday.

The South Africans clicked with the bat, especially the top order. The likes of Brits and Kapp, along with skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Chloe Tryon, are expected to come in handy yet again on Sunday.

Also, it was an all-round bowling performance, with four different wicket-takers.

However, Eliz-Mari Marx might be under the scanner, having given away 36 runs in her three overs in the first match.

The Chepauk pitch on Friday was above par and is expected to be more or less the same on Sunday.

Although there was low bounce and mild dew on Friday, playing the sweep shots effectively will be a good choice, given how the Proteas executed them perfectly.

The Teams (from): India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Uma Chetry (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Sajeevan Sajana, Deepti Sharma, Asha Sobhana, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Shabnam Shakil, Pooja Vastrakar and Radha Yadav.

South Africa Women: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Mieke de Ridder (wk), Sinalo Jafta (wk), Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba and Tumi Sekhukhune.

Match starts: 7.00 pm IST. PTI AYG PDS PDS