Worked on varying my pace as players were playing me off backfoot: Poonam Yadav

After suffering a defeat in the second ODI by five wickets against England, India spinner Poonam Yadav said that she has worked on varying her pace as she noticed that players had started playing her off the backfoot. Sophia Dunkley played an unbeaten knock of 73 runs off 81 balls to help England defeat India by five wickets in the second ODI of the three-match series here at the County Ground, Taunton on Wednesday. With this win, England has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Both teams will now lock horns in the final ODI on Saturday.

"I got a wicket after a long time so for any bowler, taking a wicket and contributing to the team matters a lot. I bowled the full quota of ten overs, I just conceded a few more runs than I would have liked. I could have done better, I would try to give similar performances and I would try to concede fewer runs," said Poonam during a virtual press conference after the end of the second ODI. Before this ODI against England, Poonam went four matches without taking a single wicket, and finally, she was able to break the dry spell with two wickets against Heather Knight's side.

"I have tried to bowl according to field placements, players were playing me off the back foot, in the end, it matters at what pace you are bowling, I think it was lacking earlier so I worked on varying my pace," said Poonam. "I think we lost wickets but we posted a decent score on the board, our bowlers did well and all of them fought till the end. We will try to do well in both batting and field, I am sure that we will win the third ODI," she added.

Earlier, Mithali Raj played a knock of 59 runs but Kate Cross's spell of 5-34 helped England bundle out India for 221 in the second ODI. "As a batting unit, we are suffering from collapses but I am sure we will do well in the third ODI. We will make a comeback. World Cup is next year and we are working on field placements, we are working on it so that it helps us in the World Cup," said Poonam.

"Anybody can have a day off, we had an off day in the first ODI. We fought till the end in the second ODI, our body language was great and we will carry forward in the next ODI.