India Have To Work On Batting Partnerships, Says Harmanpreet After Five-wicket Loss To Australia

India have to work on batting partnerships, says Harmanpreet after five-wicket loss to Australia (Image Source: IANS)

Allan Border Field: After losing to Australia by five wickets in the ODI series opener at the Allan Border Field, captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the visitors’ have to put in more efforts to work on stitching batting partnerships.

Megan Schutt’s career-best spell of 5-19 blew away India, as they folded for just 100 runs in 34.2 overs. None of the Indian batters ever found their rhythm, as their shot selection and running between the wickets came under scanner too.

"We bowled well even though it was a disappointing total on board. We were still able to take five wickets. A few of us got starts in the batting but we were not able to take the batting till the end and (we should) work on the partnerships.”

“We will keep working hard and reflect on this. We know the pitch now and hopefully, have some clear ideas for the next ODI - the total we would want if we are batting first etc and come up with a positive mindset," said Harmanpreet after the match ended.

Megan, who also took her first-ever five-wicket haul in ODIs and became the main architect of Australia blowing away India. Her superlative efforts meant Australia now have a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

"The fact that I finally got some reward with Kim's doing all the hard yards at the other end, while I was doing the wickets at the other, so it was really nice. Honestly, I thought a bit wayward early, didn't feel it my best, but got a couple of wickets there and finished up at the end. To tick off the five-fer was really nice. It's something that I look good on the day, I guess, but to wrap up the game, really early there, it's nice.”

“Putting together a couple of good matches was really nice. We generally miss each other's company, considering we're in different pockets, but perhaps just the first training week back, we were all complaining about it, but kind of cruised it out yesterday. So obviously finishing up a bit earlier is nice, gets a bit of it earlier, but we've got a big afternoon come Sunday.”

With the second ODI being a day game at the same venue on Sunday, Megan thinks getting the recovery routine right will be key. "(Focus on) Probably recovery, that should probably help with the ice fight at some point. Some good food, but obviously enjoy the sunshine.”

“It's obviously an early start on Sunday, so it's going to be a bit of a change-up, but hopefully a bit of a swing in the morning and we can win the toss. I feel like Adelaide always attracts a good crowd, and we've had a really good crowd here tonight as well, so hopefully we can have a good start out again."

Stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath lauded the bowlers for making her life as a leader easy and appreciated debutant batter Georgia Voll’s unbeaten 46. “It was important for us to start the series off well today. My job was really easy because the bowlers were unbelievable, fielding was outstanding and then how good was Volley on that.”

“Like I said it's nice when plans come off, and when the bowlers execute and fielders back them up. So it was a dream start for us today. We executed really well and yeah couldn't have done it without Volley. It's the composure and the confidence for me to open the batting and play some shots like that from ball one, special talent.”

Stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath lauded the bowlers for making her life as a leader easy and appreciated debutant batter Georgia Voll’s unbeaten 46. “It was important for us to start the series off well today. My job was really easy because the bowlers were unbelievable, fielding was outstanding and then how good was Volley on that.”

Article Source: IANS