"Too soon to say anything": Smriti Mandhana on India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's injury

Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana issued an injury update on captain Harmanpreet Kaur after India's 6-wicket win over arch-rival Pakistan in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup on Sunday. Harmanpreet looked in her groove as she kept India on course to a 6-wicket victory in a low-scoring affair against their bitter rival.

However, moments before guiding her team to victory, the 35-year-old tried to go for a late cut, failed to connect and lost her balance during the process. She got back up quickly but held her neck and seemingly looked in pain. She couldn't continue and walked off the field with a score of 29(24).

Smriti addressed Harmanpreet's setback and is hopeful that Harmanpreet will recover from it quickly, and said in the post-match presentation, "Too soon to say anything. The medics are looking at it. Hopefully, she is alright."

Despite Harmanpreet's injury concern, India still had a moment of reprieve after clinching their first win in the ongoing marquee event. In the campaign opener, India endured a heavy 58-run defeat against New Zealand. The Indian side showed grit and bounced back against Pakistan, who upset Sri Lanka in their campaign opener.

The foundation of their victory was laid by an impressive outing of the bowlers. Arundhati Reddy starred with her magical three-wicket haul in her economical four-over spell. The rest of the bowlers backed her perfectly as India restricted Pakistan to a paltry total of 105/8.

"As a bowling unit, we were very disciplined, and in the field, we were good too. We could have done with a better start with the bat, but we will take this," Smriti added.

Despite setting out to chase 106, India were tepid in the powerplay with a score of 25/1 after losing Smriti early in the inning. The slow tempo continued as India continued to chase down 106 in 18.5 overs.

"We were thinking about it, but me and Shafali weren't able to time it well. So we didn't want to get to a place where we were chasing the game, but Net Run Rate is surely in our heads. This game will give us some momentum, and hopefully, we can keep going in this tournament," Smriti concluded. (ANI)