Captain Harman Preet Kaur’s sensational century led the Indian women’s team to register a clinical victory against England in the 2nd ODI. With two wins on a trot, India sealed the series by 2-0. This also happens to be India’s first series victory against England solid after a gap of 23 years (the last one was in 1999).
While batting first, India lost the wicket of opener Shefali Varma pretty early. Later, Yashika Bhatia (26) and Smriti Mandhana’s 54-run stand settled the innings a bit. Later, Bhatia got out and Kaur entered the crease. Meanwhile, Mandhana (40) got out after a while when she was looking good to make a good score. The score was 99/3.
That’s when Kaur anchored the innings with Harleen Deol’s support. Both of them made a partnership of 113 runs. Deol (58) was caught in the 40th over. After that, Kaur (143* off 111 balls) unleashed her potential and entered the beast mode. Her sensational smacking in the death overs powered India in scoring 333/5 in 50 overs.
England was never really in the chase as Indian bowler Renuka Singh (4/57) dismantled the top order. Middle order batters Alice Capsey (39), Danielle Wyatt (65) and Amy Jones (39) tried their best but once they got out, winning was just a formality for India. Finally, England got all-out for 245 in 44.2 overs. The third and final ODI will be held on September 24.