Smriti Mandhana may have laid the platform for India's memorable semifinal win against England with her blistering 61 but the stylish opener says it is Sneh Rana's "amazing" death overs bowling that will be remembered for ages. Rana (4-0-28-2) and Deepti Sharma (4-0-18-1) fashioned India's memorable win after Mandhana recorded the fastest half-century in T20 cricket. "In matches like this, roles have to be changed. Deepti's overs in the middle were important. Rana was amazing bowling with only three fielders in the deep. That will be remembered for a long time," Mandhana said after the game.
For Mandhana, it was more important to win at any cost, having lost some close games including the 2017 ODI World Cup final.
"I was trying to remember the last-ball matches and hoped we would get over the line. We haven't done that well, so more than my fielding, I was hoping to get over the line this time," Mandhana said, when asked about her throw from the deep to run Nat Sciver out.
On her own form, Mandhana said: "I was batting well in the last 2-3 weeks, it was like I was 2-3 years back. I'm happy to have found the touch, hope to do it in the final too." He thanked the Indian supporters for their vociferous support.
"The crowd is amazing, today England had the support. We usually have it. I'll take half an hour for things to settle in. But it's been an amazing today."
Jemimah has sprain but will be fine, says Harmanpreet Kaur
Jemimah Rodrigues sustained a hand injury during fielding but she is expected to play in the final tomorrow.
"Jemimah is a fighter, these things happen. She will be fine, she got a little sprain on her hand but she will be fine," the skipper said.
Harmanpreet defended the decision to give Shafali Verma the 16th over that went for 15 runs.
"She's very confident. We need someone who wants to bowl. You need to mix up the pace, so we tried to use her to vary the pace. One of her overs went well but the other one was expensive." She looked very fired up during England innings and that was done intentionally to keep the intensity up.
"I had to be fired up, because if I am charged, the team would be involved and they'd never think we're out of the game."