India women’s national cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana got emotional after her team’s shocking 4-run defeat in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 match against England women’s national cricket team.
Team India lost the match against England from a win-win situation and captain Harmanpreet Kaur decided to throw Smriti Mandhana under the bus by blaming her for the defeat.
England defeated India in the World Cup, Smriti Mandhana got defeated!
India women lost the toss and were invited to bowl first in the match held at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. The bowling unit did a great job and restricted the English team to 288/8.
While chasing the target, India lost the wicket of Pratika Rawal early, but Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur brought the momentum back to their team by scoring brilliant half-centuries.
The target looked to be easy for India to chase as they needed 57 runs from 57 balls to win the game with seven wickets in hand. However, things turned out to be a surprise for the hosts as they went from 234/3 to 284/6, giving England a resounding victory.
India lost sensationally and fell to suffer their third consecutive defeat at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, while England qualified for the semi-finals along with Australia and South Africa.
As India performed dreadfully in the final 10 overs and struggled to win the match, the camera panned to vice-captain Smriti Mandhana in the dugout, as she struggled to hold back her tears. Smriti Mandhana was absolutely heartbroken and dejected after seeing India on the verge of knockout in the home World Cup.
Smriti Mandhana became emotional when India lost the match to England in the Women’s ICC World Cup. pic.twitter.com/R1gBfLJF23
– Manu. (@IMManu_18) 20 October 2025
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“I think Smriti’s wicket was something that was a turning point” – Harmanpreet Kaur
Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Harmanpreet Kaur put Smriti Mandhana (88 off 94) under the bus and termed her dismissal on the second ball of the 42nd over as the turning point of the game. He said:
“I think Smriti’s wicket was something that was a turning point for us and I still think we had a lot of batsmen. I don’t know how things went the other way, but credit to England. They didn’t lose.”
“They kept bowling well and taking wickets there. It’s (the feeling) bad because you have worked very hard and you kept performing well till the end, but the last 5-6 overs didn’t go as per your plan. That’s the worst but it’s definitely a very heartbreaking moment.”
We are playing good cricket- Harmanpreet Kaur
Harmanpreet Kaur further said that they have been playing good cricket for the last few matches but are failing to cross the finish line. He elaborated:
“We are playing good cricket, we are not giving up. But the last line we have to cross now because in the last three matches we have shown good cricket. But unfortunately we lost and hopefully the next game is very important for us and we will cross that line.
“Our bowlers did a really good job because when Nat and Heather were batting, they looked really good. And we thought if we could get them under 300, that would be a plus for us because this pitch and the ground are very fast and we can chase, so we wanted to bowl first. A lot of things we did right. But again, the last five overs, that’s something we have to sit together as a group.” And we will have to reconsider.”