England skipper Heather Knight pinned her side’s massive 347-run loss to India in the one-off Test at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here on the unforgiving conditions in Navi Mumbai.
“This is the first time we’ve bowled in a Test match in these conditions. Maybe if we had a two or three-match series, we would be able to use these lessons and get better,” the losing captain said after the team meekly folded to an Indian attack spitting fire in just two hours and 10 minutes.
“I think the spin was quite extreme. We learnt a lot from how India played in their first innings and the balance they maintained between attack and defence and trying to put pressure back on the bowlers. We tried to carry that into today but they bowled outstandingly and suited the conditions in how they executed their plans,” she added.
READ | Deepti, Vastrakar star as India hammers England by 347 runs in one-off Test, Australia up next
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was proud of how all three departments worked in tandem to produce a result in three days.
“We came in to win this Test and would make decisions towards that end. We made the runs we wanted to make and the bowlers backed us in every department. The biggest positive for our team is our fielding. It is important to maintain energy over 90-odd overs and we did that. The fielding led the way and everything else fell into place,” she said, after sealing a win in her first fixture as Test captain.
Harmanpreet missed out on a maiden Test fifty in both innings, finishing with scores of 49 and 44* but she brushed it aside as trivial in the larger scheme of things.
“For me, the priority is to get the team to a solid position when I come out to bat. I have not been one to fixate on personal milestones. When we batted second, we were looking for a lead of 500, to get extra safety with regard to runs. More than us batting, it was important to give the bowlers those 40 minutes in the morning to make best use of the conditions,” she added.
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