Smriti to hit some Sixers

FORGET D’Arcy Short and Jofra Archer. The star of the T20 action at Blundstone Arena this weekend could well be Hurricanes import Smriti Mandhana, who clubbed a player-of-the-match 69 off 41 against the Melbourne Stars in Burnie on Sunday. The Hurricanes take on Sydney’s star-studded Sixers twice in Hobart this weekend.

IT WAS not the Hobart Hurricanes debut she had hoped for, but Indian batter Smriti Mandhana made up for it with a matchwinning WBBL half-century against the Melbourne Stars in Burnie a day later.

The 22-year-old walked off West Park with a duck next to her name on Saturday.

The Indian Test, ODI and T20 batter clubbed a player-of-the-match 69 off 41 deliveries on Sunday to steer Hobart to its first win of the season.

It was the response she needed after Saturday’s letdown.

“I was disappointed with the first match,” Mandhana said. “I really wanted to go out there and do well for the team but I was unable to do that.

“So I was really looking forward to coming back on Sunday and scoring some runs and I was happy that I could contribute.”

Mandhana said she felt relaxed on Sunday.

“After the first match I wanted to get a good start because when you get out for zero in your first match it plays on your mind,” she said.

“It was good to get a good start and once I got away I was relaxed and timing the ball quite well.”

Only the third player to score 1000 T20 runs for India, Mandhana says she enjoys the challenge of WBBL, having previously played for Brisbane Heat.

“It’s a different expectation when you come as a foreign or overseas player,” she said. “When you’ve been playing for India or your domestic team, you’ve been playing with those players and you go into your comfort zone.

“It’s good to play in the WBBL because it is a different expectation, and that expectation is really helpful as a player.

“When you play big tournaments like the World Cup, those are also the type of expectations you get from India as well and so it’s good preparation for us.”