Harmanpreet walks the talk with timely ton

Harmanpreet Kaur was on 22 off 30 balls when Lauren Filer, and England, decided against a LBW review in Durham. She wouldn't have learnt of that colossal mistake from the hosts until much later, but what Harmanpreet did know in the moment was that - with the ODI series on the line - it was time to deliver. And walk the talk she did with a drought-ending hundred to alleviate India's short and long-term concerns in the build-up to a home World Cup.

Harmanpreet's last century in the format came just over a year ago, against South Africa in Bengaluru when Smriti Mandhana's record-breaking ton earlier in the game had already laid a platform for her skipper to exploit. Harmanpreet's last fifty in the format was, incidentally, also built on a groundwork set by yet another Mandhana century - against New Zealand in Ahmedabad last October. The Indian skipper then endured a lean patch spanning nearly four series - scoring 319 runs at an average of 29 across 13 games before Durham.

Viewed in isolation, those were 12 straight innings without so much as a fifty but it coincided with the period of sheer collective dominance from the batters around her. Not that it's excusable. Smriti Mandhana (853) and Pratika Rawal (677) shared nine 50-plus stands in the period, amassing over 1000 partnership runs; Harleen Deol (554) hit the ground running on her India comeback, and Jemimah Rodrigues (605) is in the middle of a purple patch.

In comparison, Harmanpreet's tally was sixth among India's frontline batters, aggregating only two runs more than Deepti Sharma at no. 7. Barring Australia and now England, all the series India played were against teams ranked lower than them in the 50-overs format. Even though concerns grew about her inconsistency in the format, Harmanpreet's lean returns were buried under the mountain of runs others were piling on. But with the World Cup two months away, the skipper reasserted her importance as India's vital middle-order cog with a crunch century under pressure.

The knock was both composed and commanding as it progressed, like any typical Harmanpreet innings. The patient build-up paved the way for a timely acceleration in the middle-overs and a more brutal flourish at the end that showcased her second-to-none death-overs prowess. What was different at Chester-le-Street though was she didn't have the usually solid base from the otherwise in-form batters that precede her.

When Harmanpreet walked out to the middle, India had lost both their openers 5.1 overs apart after a decent start, and Deol was struggling with strike-rotation early in her innings. To make matters worse, Sophie Ecclestone was in the middle of a disciplined and stingy spell, having just dismissed Mandhana in a wicket-maiden, with Charlie Dean amping up the pressure at the other end. After 60/0 in 11, India had only crawled to 81/2 in the next seven overs amidst the spin choke. She herself consumed 10 dots before finally getting off the mark with a sweetly timed cover drive. "Obviously in all the matches, I wanted to give my best in batting but today's game was very important for us," Harmanpreet said after the match. "The plan was to spend some time on the wicket and then see how things will go. And I think that thing really worked for me. In the first 11 balls, I didn't get any runs. But then I was just talking to myself, I'm not going to lose myself. Just be there for the team and I think those things really helped me."

Harmanpreet's defiant 81-run stand with Deol moved at a less-than-ideal pace, but frustrated England enough to force them into bowling out the dangerous Ecclestone by the 34th over itself. And all through that, the Indian captain demonstrated great adaptability to both pitch and the opposition while under physical duress. She dug deep, scoring only 10 off the 22 deliveries she faced from the no. 1 ranked ODI bowler. When Ecclestone wrapped up with 10-2-28-1, Harmanpreet was still 39 off 48, and was just joined by Rodrigues who brought the much-needed urgency in scoring. The strike rotation, and India's run-rate as a result, improved almost instantly as the 36-year-old went on to register her 20th ODI fifty in 54 deliveries.

The always busy Rodrigues stepped on the gas after India's 200 was up, hitting Dean for five boundaries in six balls across her final-two overs that yielded 38 overall, and Harmanpreet took the cue to go past run-a-ball strike-rate for the first time in the 43rd over. Now was the skipper's time to go on the offensive.

Filer erred in her lengths, going too short or too full, and was dispatched to the fence in successive deliveries by the Indian. Her strategic pacing of the innings saw the sweeps come out against the spin at the fag end despite the lower-back treatment she received in the middle of her stay at the crease. Linsey Smith bore the brunt with three boundary hits in a 17-run 45th over as the second-half of that seventh ODI hundred came in just 28 balls. The acceleration not only made up for the earlier dots, but also helped India capitalise in the death overs and set England the daunting task of their highest-ever ODI chase with series, and pride, at stake.

Ahead of the one-dayers, Harmanpreet had asserted the significance of cultivating the habit of totalling over 300 - not just to cushion their weakened bowling lineup on this particular tour but also with the larger picture in mind of the conditions expected at the shortlisted World Cup venues. Going in with a four-pronged spin attack and a lone pacer for the series decider that kicked off in overcast conditions, Harmanpreet led from the front in delivering that much-needed above-par score for her team.

"It was a very important match for us and I want to dedicate this to my dad, he has been waiting for this kind of knock," she said after the game. "I was a little under pressure and wanted to do well for the team and when you work hard the right time will come to deliver. Today was the right platform to deliver."

En route her third century in England, and her fastest overall, Harmanpreet also became only the third Indian in the 4000-run club in the format - not that she cares for any of those personal milestones. This hundred was a statement of intent - just when Harmanpreet, and India, needed it the most.