Harmanpreet Kaur: A skipper who led from the front

Harmanpreet played a blinder to seal the series [PC: Twitter]

The Indian women’s team created history as they defeated the England team in the second ODI. With the win, the Indian has taken an unassailable lead in the series. 

The hero of the match was the Indian skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur. She led the team from the front and played a knock suiting a skipper. 

Harmanpreet Kaur walked into bat when the team’s score was 66 for 2 in the 12th over of the innings. After this she stitched a partnership of 111 runs with Harleen Deol and laid the foundation for a big total for her team. 

Harmanpreet Kaur's innings progression 

Perfect composure and reading the situation to perfection were the trademarks of her knock. A look into how her innings progressed will give us a clear idea.

Harmanpreet Kaur's innings progression

The figure gives us the idea that Harman’s knock was a perfectly planned One day innings. In the initial stages she took her time to adjust to the conditions. She respected the bowlers and bit her time. Her innings can be basically divided into two parts. In the first 60 balls she laid the platform and scored just 44 runs in them, with a strike rate of just 73.33.

In the next 51 balls she scored 99 runs at a strike rate of 194.11. It was a great execution from her part in selecting the time and situation to go berserk and help India to a mammoth total of 333 runs in their 50 overs. 

Harmanpreet Kaur's scoring areas

In case of the technique with which she approached the match it was perfectly planned by her in that sense also. Let us take a deeper look at where she scored the runs. 

Harman's scoring areas

At the beginning of the innings Harman looked to play more towards the cover. But as she decided to up the scoring rate, she used the mid-wicket region the most. She foresaw the zones which she could exploit perfectly as per the demand of the situation. 

As a cricket fan it was a pleasant sight to witness a player in such a groove. Also the way Harman stepped as a leader was a great sight to see. A perfectly planned and executed ODI innings from Harmanpreet will now probably she her being rated as one of the better players of the format.

Also Read: ENG vs IND 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur hails team effort for series win over England