Harmanpreet Kaur is at her best when she has her back to the wall, the stylish Smriti Mandhana said, after the duo hit hundreds in India's emphatic 155-run victory over West Indies in an ICC Women's World Cup match on Saturday. While Mandhana smashed her fifth ODI hundred, a sensational 123 off 119 balls, Harmanpreet slammed a 107-ball 109, her fourth ODI century, and the first since the epic 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 World Cup. "From the outset, I feel when her back is towards the wall, that's when she comes out the best and that's something which I've seen," Smriti, who shared her 'Player-of-the-Match' award with Harmanpreet in a novel gesture, said in the post-match media interaction.
"Her work ethic is really up there in the whole team. She keeps going even if she does not get the results. World Cups are the place where she comes good."
The duo put together a record 184-run stand -- India's highest partnership for any wicket at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup -- as the last edition's runners up put up 317/8 their highest total in the history of the showpiece event.
"She is a crucial part of our middle order. Happy she's come back well. She has been batting well in the practice. We were always confident that she would score runs. Happy that she scored back-to-back fifties. It will give her good confidence going forward."
Talking about their partnership, she said: "The situation was quite tricky when she came into bat. I didn't want to lose her or lose her focus. But once she was on 30-40s we all started having a lot of fun. We started talking a lot after that. she was smiling a lot more today."
India next face the defending champions England on Monday.
India's strike rotation had come under scrutiny after their 62-run defeat to the hosts New Zealand in their last match.
Against the Windies, India found themselves in a familiar situation losing three quick wickets for 78 runs after a brisk start.
"When she came into bat, we were focusing more on singles. I didn't want to stop the run-rate also so it was about converting the singles into doubles.
"We spoke about it a lot in the dressing room after the New Zealand defeat. Yastika (Bhatia) had set up the momentum (with her 21-ball 31). We just had to keep it going and could not afford to play the fancy shots."