Indore: Moments after India suffered a heartbreaking four-run defeat against England — even as they looked to be cruising to an easy win at one point — star opener Smriti Mandhana didn’t shy away from putting her hand up and taking some of the blame for India messing up the chase in a crucial match of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.Placed at 234 for three in the 42nd over, the tournament hosts appeared to be cruising to victory with Mandhana, who scored 88 off 94 balls, at the crease in pursuit of England’s total of 288 for eight. They had seven wickets in hand and needed just six runs per over when the dashing left-hander holed out to Alice Capsey off Linsey Smith in the deep — marking the start of a complete shift in momentum that saw India manage only 50 runs in the last 52 balls while losing three wickets.
Staging a magnificent comeback, England qualified for the semifinals, while India — whose World Cup campaign is rapidly falling apart — now need to win both their remaining matches, against New Zealand on October 23 and Bangladesh on October 26 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, to stay in contention.There was still hope heading into the final over with 14 runs required and Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana at the crease, but Smith conceded just nine.“I mean, it collapsed — everyone saw that. I think everyone’s shot selections at that time could have been better. It started from me, so I will take it on me that the shot selection should have been better. We just needed six (runs) per over and maybe we should have taken the game deeper,” a despondent Mandhana said after the match.India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who stroked 70 and shared a 125-run partnership in 122 balls for the third wicket with Mandhana, also felt that the Indian vice-captain’s dismissal was the turning point in the chase.“I think Smriti’s wicket was a turning point for us, and I still think we had too many batters. I don’t know how things went the other way, but credit goes to England — they kept bowling well and getting wickets there,” said Harmanpreet at the post-match presentation.Finding it difficult to swallow the feeling of faltering in the final stretch of a match they had in their grip for most of the time, Harmanpreet said, “It is bad because you have put in so much hard work and kept ticking the boxes till the end, but the last 5-6 overs didn’t go according to plan. That’s the worst, but definitely, it’s a very heartbreaking moment.”“We are playing good cricket; we are not giving up. But that last line we have to cross now because it’s been the last three games where we showed up with good cricket,” she added.Questions have also been directed at India’s team composition for the crucial match against England, with India leaving out Jemimah Rodrigues to accommodate pacer Renuka Singh Thakur. It meant India went into the game one batter short. Remaining firm on her decision, Harmanpreet said, “These things will keep going because I think things were under control when Smriti and I were batting. And I think Smriti’s wicket was the turning point for us. But still, we had Richa, Amanjot, and Deepti, who have won games for us in the past. But unfortunately, today we were not able to make it.”
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It’s apparent that India are overly dependent on explosive wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh, who was out for a 10-ball eight, for the big hits while finishing the innings. However, Mandhana defended the lower order, which bailed India out in the first two matches of the competition against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. “I mean, of course, Richa has been good for us, but I wouldn’t say it’s only dependent on her. We just needed 6.5 per over — it’s not like we needed nine. The finishing part was a lot to ask, but we’ve seen Aman (Amanjot Kaur) do that in the WPL (Women’s Premier League), and Sneh (Rana) has been brilliant in the last few overs with the bat for us in the first three-four matches. We’ll all take it on ourselves that we could have done better in the last six overs,” she said.Despite India suffering three losses in a row — all against SENA countries — Mandhana backed her side to bounce back in their next clash in the tournament against the White Ferns on Thursday. “In cricket, nothing comes easy. For sure, the next match will be a virtual quarterfinal in terms of getting into the top four, and you don’t play cricket to have easy days. We’ll all take this in our stride. We all know where we could have done better and where we went wrong. If you’re playing a sport, you’re meant to have good days and bad days. It’s about how you take those bad days and move on,” she said.
