England women sealed the 3-match T20 series (2-1) against India women with a 7-wicket win in the 3rd and final match at the County Ground in Bristol. It was a crucial match for both teams as the series levelled at 1-1 when the last game was completed. But India’s comeback went in vain as the hosts prevailed over the visitors in the last game. England restricted India to a low total and chased down the target easily.
England won the toss earlier in the game and put India to bat first. The Women in Blue couldn’t make a big start like last time. The batting line-up faced an early collapse. The openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma failed to fire this time even though a lot was expected from them. Shafali Verma departed in 5 off 12 deliveries and Mandhana followed her after scoring 9 runs off 8 balls.
To cop-up with the loss, Sabbhineni Meghana was brought in early in place of Kiran Navigre. But Meghana too departed on a golden duck when India was in 19/3.
All eyes were on the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur in that situation, but it was not her day. Kaur departed on 5 off 14 deliveries.
Deepti Sharma (24), and Richa Gosh (33) came to rescue team India, but that was not enough to get out of the hole that England created. Pooja Vastrakar (19), and Richa Ghosh’s 43-run partnership in the last 3 overs helped India cross the three-figure mark on the scoreboard. In total India scored 122/8 in 20 overs.
England’s bowling line-up was excellent throughout the game. Indian bowlers were unable to score runs in England’s spin bowling. Sophie Ecclestone picked 3 wickets for England. Sarah Glenn added two more to the list. Bryony Smith, Freya Davies, and Issy Wong scored a wicket each.
England came out to chase the lowest total and they knew the importance of keeping wickets in hand. They have got a great start with openers Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt scoring a massive 70-run stand in 10 overs. The partnership was broken late in the 10th over as Wyatt was dismissed by Rana. Dunkley was very close to her fifty (49 off 44), but the dot balls by Radha Yadav made her desperate. Then Pooja Vastrakar dismissed her in the 12th over.
Then India’s Radha Yadav managed to send back England’s skipper Amy Jones in 3 runs. When India seemed to be in a safe position, Alice Capsey put up a brilliant show on display. Capsey carried the game forward and scored 38 runs off 24 deliveries. Capsey brought England back to the game with her power-hitting abilities.
England managed to chase down the target with 7 wickets in hand and 10 deliveries to spare.
“I think we were 20 runs short. Credit to our bowlers for keeping us in the game, we just need to stick to our strengths. One needs to have a decent total in any format of the game. We need partnerships with the bat ” India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said after the game.
England won the series by 2-1. Now India will look forward to settling the scores in the upcoming ODI matches.
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