Cricket: We have our gameplan in place for SA bowlers: Mithali Raj

India Women's team captain Mithali Raj spoke of having a gameplan in place for the South Africa bowlers, as her side picked up two crucial points towards the ICC Women's Championship in their first game. After opting to bat first, India lost Punam Raut early, after which a 99-run tone-setting partnership between Raj and Smriti Mandhana laid the foundation for India to go ahead and a get a total in excess of 200. Smriti top-scored for India with a 98-ball 84 while Raj scored 45 to set the game up for the lower-order to collect quick runs at the death.

Raj reckoned the advantage of having a left-right batting combination in the middle went a long way in throwing South Africa off their rhythm.

"I think we do have our gameplan in place for SA bowlers," Raj said after her side's victory at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Monday (February 5). "The left-right combination always works, whether you're batting. It troubles you with the field set and the bowlers' rhythm, when you have a left-right combination. And it was important for us not to lose another wicket after the loss of Punam Raut because we had to again build a base where the next batters who come in can take the momentum.

At one stage, India looked set to amass a total well in excess of 200 and even closer to 250, but late wickets derailed those plans. Yet, Raj reckoned that a total of 213 was good enough for her bowlers to deal with on a pitch that was on the slower side.

"Though we lost two wickets in the powerplay and we couldn't put up the total that we were expecting with the kind of start we got, I still think the 200-plus on this wicket was good enough for our bowlers to come back and pick wickets.

"We definitely were aiming around 230 to 250, but [after] losing those back-to-back wickets, we had two new batters during the powerplay. Very rarely can batters take that momentum in the powerplay. Usually, when you have two new batters at the crease, it gets a little difficult. They've to start afresh, build a partnership. But we were almost into the 40th over by then, and we lost two batters in the form of run outs. Overall in the end, even the tail has contributed quick runs in the last five overs to get us to that total."

After India finished on 213 for 7, Jhulan Goswami (4 for 24) and Shikha Pandey (3 for 23) ran riot, bundling out the hosts for 125 in the 44th over. The second match of the series will be played on February 7 (Wednesday) at the same venue.\

(CRICBUZZ)