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Harmanpreet Kaur 'Rues' Lack Of Runs After Second T20I Loss Vs ENG-W 

image-lpz1tufuHarmanpreet Kaur (Twitter)

Harmanpreet Kaur admitted her team's inability to "read the ball well" in an abysmal batting display during the second T20I of the series against England on Saturday (December 9). 

The Indian women's team skipper acknowledged a horrific outing on the batting front as the hosts capitulated for an embarrassing 80 all out at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and suffered a four-wicket defeat. 

While the Indian bowlers - Renuka Thakur Singh (2/26) and Deepti Sharma (2/4) - still gave England a hard time in the second half and only allowed them to reach the 81-run target in the 12th over of the chase at six wickets down, Harmanpreet rued a pedestrian first-half. 

In a sorry-looking scorecard, only two batters in the Indian camp managed to reach double digits with a measured 30 from 33 by young Jemimah Rodrigues being the sole bright spot amidst the doom and gloom. 

Harmanpreet On India's Horrific Loss In Mumbai 

The defeat would linger hard in the Indian squad as it meant England could take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, having earlier toppled off the home side in the first T20I on Wednesday (December 6) with an even more comprehensive performance. 

"We always want to play with a positive approach, but unfortunately some of us didn't read the ball well, and they also bowled really well and didn't allow us to score freely," said Harmanpreet at the post-match presentation ceremony. 

Keeping in mind how Indian bowlers managed to build inroads into the aggressive English batting line-up, the captain felt another "30-40 runs" might have turned it into a contest and revealed the strategy was indeed to try and reach 120 after the loss of early wickets in the decisive first-half. 

"Another 30-40 runs could have made a huge difference. Proud of my team, we fought till the last run which is good to see."

"After losing early wickets, we were thinking 120, but couldn't do it. But still, our bowlers were ready to take up the challenge and bowled the way we wanted," she added. 

The third and final T20I of the series will be played on Sunday (December 10).