South Africa: After smashing a fantastic 117 against South Africa in the ODI series opener at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said more than her century, she was happy over lifting the side to a total over 260.
Smriti smashed 117 off 127 balls, her sixth century in the format, to take India to 265/8 on a slightly sluggish Bengaluru pitch. Her knock, also her first ton in India, was laced with 12 fours and a six. This is just the second time Smriti scored a century against South Africa, with the first instance coming in 2018 when she hit 135 at Kimberley.
“I knew I hadn’t scored a century in India, but that didn’t come in my mind when I was batting. More than the hundred, happy we got to 260+. If we stick to our plans, we should be able to do well,” said Smriti to broadcasters in the mid-innings break.
India were reduced to 99/5 at one stage after electing to bat first. But Smriti’s gritty and composed century, along with supporting knocks from Deepti Sharma (37) and Pooja Vastrakar (31) helped India get a great total on board.
“It was a little two-paced wicket. It wasn’t a bad wicket. I think the odd ball was keeping low, the odd ball was rising. Was important to play according to the merit. Deepti and I kept telling each other to take it till the 35th over in singles and twos. Five or six runs per over was on because they had spread the field,” she added.
Smriti also revealed about the preparation undertaken to play ODIs after last playing the format in January through a home series against Australia. “Playing ODI cricket after a long time, in the nets, it was hard to keep my shots under control. After playing T20 cricket like we have for the last 5-6 months, it’s hard to control your shots. Last 7-8 days, the focus has been to keep the ball on the ground. We had a really good batting camp in Mumbai.”
