India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, expressed her delight after the win against New Zealand in the 24th match of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025. In the post-match presentation ceremony, she praised Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal for the extraordinary start that they provided India.
“It wasn’t easy, but credit goes to the entire team, the way we fought today. Knew how important the match was and was delighted with how we played. We were getting started, but unfortunately weren’t able to make it big. But the self-belief was there. Credit to Smriti and Pratika. We got a very good start; they put 200 on the board, and that time we decided if we could send Jemi (Jemimah Rodriguez), who likes getting runs from the start.”
India defeated New Zealand by 53 runs (DLS method) to qualify for the semi-finals, and the Indian openers played a big role in that. Both Mandhana and Rawal got centuries, and their first wicket partnership of 212 runs of 201 balls was instrumental in taking India to a big total.
Speaking about the mindset of the team and home advantage, Harmanpreet said:
“Whenever you’re playing at home, everyone expects a lot from us. Our discussions are that the crowd is with us, and this is the time to enjoy rather than put pressure. The way we were lifting each other shows how positive we were. Three games didn’t go well, but we knew this wasn’t what we were expecting, and we were going to change this. Have been doing well while batting, but bowling is something which we have to put ourselves really strongly.”
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