DY Patil Stadium: After suffering a six-wicket defeat to Australia in the second T20I, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted that the total posted by her team with the bat wasnât enough, but appreciated the bowlers for giving them a slim chance to come back in the match.
At the DY Patil Stadium, Indiaâs bowlers did put up a fight against Australiaâs batters, but defending 131 after being put in to bat first, was always going to be a tough ask for the hostsâ. Sundayâs result also means that Tuesdayâs game at the same venue will be a series decider.
"I think the score wasn't enough on the board but our bowlers did really well. We took it to the 19th over, that was the biggest positive. In the first game, we set the standard. In these games we have to put up a good show with the fielding.â
âWhen we were in the middle, we thought 150 would be a good total but we kept losing wickets and a few overs were bowled really well. But we have to think of what we have to do in the final game if we bat first,â said Harmanpreet after the match ended.
She also hoped that youngsters will get better with exposure through matches against Australia. âWe were getting those opportunities, we were taking wickets and that's a positive. In the 19th over, if Shreyanka was on target, it would have made a huge difference for us. But these are the things we need to do.â
âWe have seen these sorts of games a lot of time. But every time team members keep changing. This young group looks really positive and hopefully they will keep improving with experience."
In what was also Ellyse Perryâs 300th international game, Australia skipper Alyssa Healy was delighted over her team getting a win after losing the series opener and appreciated pace all-rounder Kim Garth for her spell of 2-27 in four overs.
"We probably still didn't execute as much as we'd want but we are happy to take the win. Interestingly enough, the statistics say the average score here is 145-150 so if we kept them below 140 we had a good chance. I pride myself on my reviews.â
âI've actually seen Kim Garth take a fifer here in the WPL, she loves bowling here. I think we just needed to be more clinical. We just didn't execute well enough the other night and the bowlers did really well today. Hopefully we'll go one better in a couple of days' time."