Record-setting Harmanpreet Kaur and India’s inventiveness

The inaugural game of the first-ever standalone Women’s World Twenty20 needed a sparkling show to set the tone for the remaining two weeks, and being the big occasion player that she is Harmanpreet Kaur stole the thunder. She becoming the first Indian to score a T20 International century is just the kind of tonic the ICC and the broadcasters would have hoped for. When Smriti Mandhana made that attractive 90 against England on the first day of the 2017 Women’s World Cup in Derby, she was warming up a new audience. Kaur’s 51-ball 103 that set the tone for India’s 34-run over New Zealand in the opening Group B game in Guyana on Friday (November 9) was not only a promise kept in front of the primetime television audience back home who had watched her unbeaten 115-ball 171 against Australia in the World Cup semifinal last year, but also another show of love extended to new converts.



In the context of Kaur’s career, this is a massive knock considering there was a lot riding on her after India’s not exactly impressive performances since that nine-run loss in the World Cup final, and we have spoken about the impact of such performances earlier also. But the bigger story of the day probably was India’s preparedness for the occasion. Look at the number of surprises they threw at New Zealand even before Kaur had taken guard.



The conventional wisdom in T20s is to win the toss and opt to chase on pitches that usually offer nothing to bowlers. The trend in the women’s game since last year when only four fielders were allowed outside the inner circle in the 15 non-Power Play overs is more obvious. Five of the top six T20I run chases have come since November 2017, and even New Zealand’s 160 for 9 in a losing cause in this game ranks eighth among second innings totals.



A lot has been spoken about how Ramesh Powar has helped India change their mindset and be positive in their approach since he became the coach in August. The signs were there during the series win in Sri Lanka and India A’s T20 dominance over Australia A at home before leaving for the Caribbean, but how would it show up on the biggest stage of all was a pertinent question. There was absolutely no room for complaint, with Kaur setting the precedence at the toss itself.



India had first access to a pitch prepared for a triple-header, meaning the tired surface could assist the slower bowlers as the day progressed. It was important for India to make the best use of the pitch at 11 am in the morning, put enough runs on the board and bring their biggest strength – the spinners – into play against a side not used to playing the slower bowlers well in a game hyped up as a virtual quarterfinal.



The next surprise came when Taniya Bhatia, and not Mithali Raj, opened the innings along with Smriti Mandhana. Bhatia faced the first ball of the match from offspinner Jess Watkin and used her wrist to guide it to the fine-leg fence. Lea Tahuhu bowled Bhatia with a 118 kmph delivery in the second over, but by then Bhatia had hit two fours. Jemimah Rodrigues walked out at No.3 and should have walked back before opening her account had New Zealand opted for the Decision Review System against an unsuccessful leg before wicket appeal. It was not to be and she rode on her luck beautifully, but Mandhana’s dismissal in the fourth over surely must have forced the team management to re-strategise the batting plan and look for a bit more caution. Instead D Hemalatha, who made her debut in place of an experienced Anuja Patil, came out and showed intent with back-to-back fours off Hayley Jensen, the medium pacer.



Hemalatha got out two balls before the Power Play ended, but between she and Bhatia India had got 24 runs off 13 balls, which may not have been the case had they batted after the Power Play overs with the field spread out and the ball a bit older. A smart move in a format where every inch counts; the understanding being that Raj could adapt under any circumstances while the youngsters needed to be given the freedom to play their strokes when the situation was ripe. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Kaur credited Raj for putting team over self. Let it digest: before this game Raj had batted as low as No.5 just once in her 12-year-old T20I career, and here her services were not needed. Surely, the ploy may not work always but just that India were inventive in their approach in the way Australia have been over the last few seasons was refreshing.



Now let’s get back to Kaur’s magic and her mammoth 134-run stand with Rodrigues. Kaur took stirke when India were 40 for 3 in 5.4 overs. One more slip and the theory of experimenting with the batting order could have boomeranged, and the blame would have fallen majorly on the skipper. So, the initial focus was to rebuild the innings with Rodrigues even as she took time to reach five off her first 13 balls.



In that epic knock against Austraila in the World Cup semifinal, the trigger came when legspinner Kristen Beams bowled a no-ball and the subsequent free-hit was dispatched for a six for the entire narrative to change. A similar kind of moment against New Zealand came when Watkin returned to the attack in the tenth over of the innings.



India were 60 for 3, and needed some impetus. With the pitch bland, New Zealand batters were mentally tuning themselves to use their power against Indian spinners. Kaur must have been aware of that and would have wanted a total beyond New Zealand’s means. She had only sixty balls to make a difference now. The first ball of Watkin’s over was on middle stump, which Kaur should have been able to easily nudge to the vacant area on the legside for a single. Instead she played it straight back to the bowler for a dot. As luck would have it, the next ball was a full toss and Kaur stepped out to dispatch it over midwicket fence for the tournament’s first six. She used the direction of the cross breeze flowing across the stadium to hit a total of eight sixes, but it was the first one that broke the shackles. India ended up collecting 16 runs from that over, their best in the innings till then.



When Tahuhu, who had bowled eight dot balls in her first two overs, replaced Watkin in the 12^th over, Rodrigues picked up a ball from the middle stump to hit a lofted four wide of long-on. Kaur’s confidence had rubbed off to Rodrigues, who herself showed great maturity in grinding out initially and then playing second fiddle to her skipper.



While Kaur and Rodrigues have always been clean hitters of the ball, the willingness to take risky singles was the standout feature of India’s best partnership in T20Is. There were a few close run-out chances, but that is par for the course. After having played 30 dot balls in the first 12 overs, India scored 103 runs in the last eight overs and had only eight dots against their name.



The part of this sharp conversion was not just Kaur’s brute power, but her deftness to find the gaps and the responsibility that Rodrigues took in ensuring that there was no drought at the other end. As much as Kaur was the toast of the match, Rodrigues laid the foundation with her 45-ball 59 – her third fifty in her last four T20Is; a massive boost of confidence for someone who was unsure of her place in the scheme of things only a few months back.



Kaur’s hunger for success is widely known, and there was no hiding of it when she kept stressing to Melanie Jones at the presentation ceremony that this was by no means a complete performance from India. The bowling lacked bite most of the times, and the batting Power Play where India hit five fours as compared to New Zealand’s seven could have been utilised better. The appetite to improve can only augur well for India going into their next game against Pakistan.