Harmanpreet Kaur has credited Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana for India's humongous win over Sri Lanka in a Group A fixture of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on October 10 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS).
The opening pair of Shafali and Smriti added 98 runs in 12.4 overs to get India off to a solid start in the do-or-die fixture. Smriti was the more aggressive of the two openers and smashed a quickfire fifty off 38 balls with the help of four boundaries and a maximum.
Shafali also showed glimpses of her hitting best. The right-handed batter scored 43 off 40 deliveries with the help of four fours and batted at a strike rate of 107.50.
India's openers took their time initially before going hard at the Sri Lankan bowlers. Smriti was struggling to time the ball during the powerplay but got into the groove after her partner at the other end started utilizing the scoring opportunities.
"We just wanted to go with the momentum, Shafali and Smriti gave us a good start. Credit goes to them. They were there on the pitch, calculative, didn't throw the wicket away," Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation.
Notably, Harmanpreet played a whirlwind knock of 52* off just 27 deliveries and created a new record for the all-time fastest fifty scored by an Indian at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
The record for the fastest fifty at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup by an Indian earlier belonged to Smriti. Smriti had scored a 31-ball fifty against Australia at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2018.
Harmanpreet shattered Smriti's record by scoring a 27-ball fifty in Dubai and etched her name in the history books.
Reflecting on her knock, the India captain said, "Jemi and I, we just wanted to score seven-eight runs an over. It was one of the days when I was in my zone, whenever ball was in my zone, I went hard. I was only thinking about positives. This wicket was not true to batting, you have to keep rotating the strike. Once ball is in your zone you can go for it. It's not like you can keep swinging the bat. We were there and didn't throw the wicket away. Really happy for the team."
