We failed to read the ball well: Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet Kaur. Pic/PTI

India's abysmal batting prompted skipper Harmanpreet Kaur to acknowledge the team's failure in "reading the ball well" during the second women's T20I here on Saturday.

Sent in to bat, India were bowled out for mere 80 runs. This was their third lowest total in a women's T20I as India conceded the three-match series after losing back-to-back matches.

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"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," Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

Indian batting looked clueless as they went with all-out approach, something that backfired in Amol Mazumdar's first assignment as coach.

Defending the paltry total, India had their moments when Deepti Sharma took two wickets in two balls to have them 73 for 6 but without any scoreboard pressure England cantered home with four wickets and 52 balls remaining.

Harmanpreet said they fell short by 30-40 runs. "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.

Want to make it 3-0

Having lost their previous T20I series to Sri Lanka, England were at their dominant best to storm back to take an unbeatable 2-0 series lead. The third and last women's T20I is here on Sunday.

Skipper Heather Knight said it really augurs well ahead of a one-off Test. "I thought it was quite hard for our openers and I thought Renuka bowled really well and the job was to score as many in the powerplay and not lose too many wickets. We have a Test match coming up and we want to win the series 3-0," Knight said.

Player-of-the-Match Charlotte Dean credited the bowlers for making it easier for her. "The bowlers around made it very comfortable and easier for me. In T20, I find it really important not to get stuck bowling the same ball again and again and need to vary the pace and see how the batters react. "I have a gut feel on where people are trying to hit me and I plan accordingly. I usually try to target the stumps more often," Dean said.

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