England’s Alex Hartley praises Ravi Ashwin for his tweet on women's cricket

Ravi Ashwin, the Indian men’s off-spinner, was a concerned man when the India women’s team faced the South Africa women’s team in the second T20I at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Ashwin had his concerns when Laura Wolvaardt looked on top of her game as she managed an unbeaten 39-ball 53 with seven fours.

After the hosts set a target of 159 for Sune Luus and Co to chase down, the match went right down to the wire. With South Africa needing one run off the last ball, Wolvaardt took a quick single off Arundhati Reddy to take her team to victory. Moreover, the visitors also managed to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

In the meantime, Ashwin took to Twitter and wrote, “What is the procedure to get Laura out now? Can u send a soft signal to her? #INDvSA”

Here’s Ravi Ashwin’s tweet:

What is the procedure to get Laura out now? Can u send a soft signal to her? #INDvSA https://t.co/hKv0XHFG4s

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) March 21, 2021

Ashwin’s tweet impressed Alex Hartley, the England women’s cricketer. She was happy to see Ashwin watching women’s cricket with a lot of interest.

Hartley replied to Ashwin and wrote, “This… this is what we like to see. This is what matters, this is everything. A genuine interest in the women’s game!! Bravo.”

Here’s Hartley’s tweet:

This… this is what we like to see.
This is what matters, this is everything.

A genuine interest in the women’s game!!

Bravo 👏🏽👏🏽 @ashwinravi99

🤞🏽 others will follow. https://t.co/qEsFAhSMBS

— Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93) March 21, 2021

As far as the game was concerned, Lizelle Lee top-scored for South Africa with 70 runs off 45 balls, but it was Wolvaardt, who got the Player of the Match award. She said that he had her difficulties at the start of the innings, but she managed to find her feet as her knock progressed.

“Didn’t start my innings as quickly as I would’ve liked. But knew with this fast outfield we had a chance. It’s not about the individual shots, but it’s knowing when to play them,” Wolvaardt said after the game.

Wolvaardt also had an impressive outing in the five-match ODI series that South Africa won 4-1 against India. In the series, she managed 154 runs at an average of 30.8.

She started with a knock of 80 in the opening game after which she scored an unbeaten 53 in the fourth ODI. The right-hander will now be looking to end the T20Is on a positive note.