In a shocking declaration today, it has been revealed that Smriti Mandhana will not be a part of the Southern Brave squad for their final match of the Hundred on 21st August at the Lord’s in England. In addition to this, Harmanpreet Kaur will also be returning home after suffering from a quad injury.
Mandhana who has scored 167 runs in 7 matches, has decided to return to India to spend some time with her family before departing with the Indian Women’s squad for their upcoming tour of Australia in September and October. In her final innings at the Hundred, she recorded the best score of 78 runs from 52 balls.
Smriti Mandhana was on fire last night🔥#TheHundred #TheHundred2021 pic.twitter.com/vySfKJrhCy
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 12, 2021
On her decision, Mandhana said, “It’s been a fantastic competition to be involved in and I’ve really enjoyed it. I would love to be able to stay with the team until the final but we’ve been away from home for a long time with more tours ahead. I’ll be watching the team at Lord’s and hoping they can continue our good form.”
Here’s what Smriti Mandhana had to say on her decision for withdrawing from The Hundred tournament. #TheHundred #SmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/JA2FxAm8hv
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 12, 2021
Gaby Lewis from Ireland had been called up to replace Mandhana for the final of the tournament. Despite being fixed for the final, Southern brave will be playing their final group match against the Oval Invincibles on August 16.
Harmanpreet Kaur, unfortunately, sustained a quad injury due to which she had to miss out on the last two matches of the Manchester Originals. Shortly after Harmanpreet’s decision to depart, the Originals who were already eliminated decided not to replace her. Harmanpreet has aggregated 104 runs in her three innings for the Manchester side at an average of 52.
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