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IND-W vs ENG-W 1st T20I: Scoring her first T20I hundred against England was 'pretty special' as T20Is is 'not one of my strengths' reckoned India's stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana after guiding her team to a 97-run win during the series opener in Nottingham. Mandhana smashed her first T20I century after playing in her 149th match as she had scored 112 runs off 62 balls, in which she had smashed 15 furs and three sixes and helped the team post a mammoth target of 210 runs and then the visitors skittled the hosts out for just 113 runs in 14.5 overs. "It's a nice feeling because this format is something which, for me as a batter, I need to keep pushing and keep improving. It's not a very natural format for me," Mandhana told reporters during the post-match press conference.

"I like to time the ball; (I'm) not a big hitter of the ball and, for the last six years, it's always (been) a work in progress and it's still a work in progress. So, to get a hundred in this format, getting it before in Test cricket and one-day cricket which are more suited to my batting, but getting it in this format is pretty special because it's not one of my strengths," she added.

Mandhana further said that she was working hard on her power-hitting abilities.

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"The improvement... and I'm trying to work a lot on my power hitting and to see that come through, which is a nice feeling," she added.

Mandhana, who was the highest run-scorer in 2024 for the Women in Blue as she had scored 763 runs after playing in 23 T20Is, which included eight half-centuries, revealed that her celebration was pointed towards her teammate Radha Yadav.

"That's a funny story. I think three days back, me and Radha Yadav were having a conversation that, (and) you know all these girls are hard on me sometimes, they keep telling me (and) she was telling me that it's high time you get a century in T20s. You keep getting out in the 70s, or 80s and you're not doing justice to your talent' and all of that stuff. I was like, 'Okay Radha, I will see now'. This time, I'll try and get (it) in one of the matches in the series. I did not think that it would come in the first match. The finger was towards her that 'see, I got it today'. It's pretty frustrating to get out in the 70s and 80s over the last 10 years," she said.

Mandhana showered huge praises on the Indian bowlers, especially the 20-year-old youngster Shree Charan, who had taken a four-wicket haul.

"The way the bowlers bowled and executed the plans was just amazing. That makes our job very, very easy when they bowl like that. They all were focused. They knew their plans, especially (for) Shree to come in the first match and bowl (like that)... we saw what she could do in WPL a little bit. She was always looking really like a good bowler. But today, the way she bowled was amazing," she added.

"(For) all the bowlers, the plans were pretty clear. Even when we were inside there were a few wickets that fell and Nat (Sciver-Brunt) was on one end. The plan was pretty clear to try and execute your best ball to Nat and give a single to her, which they did brilliantly throughout" she further said.

She also talked about Shafali Verma scoring a big knock soon in this series and said, “I've seen Shafali bat last 7-8 days amazingly well in the nets, so I don't see a big knock too far because the way she's been hitting the ball".