Indian opener Smriti Mandhana’s unbeaten 79 off 53 balls lead India women to win the 2nd T20 against England women at Derby on Tuesday. With an 8-wicket win over England, India levelled the series 1-1. Chasing a total of 142 runs, captain Harmanpreet Kaur (29 off 22) and opener Mandhana remain unbeaten and India crossed the target with more than 3 overs to spare.
After winning the toss, England women decided to bat first. But we can call it a role reversal from the first match as Indian women were far superior in all three departments. England lost the first five wickets in a hurry. They were in trouble and out of luck throughout the game.
England was in 54/4 in 10 overs and they lost all their hope in the game. But Freya Kemp and Maia Bouchier’s partnership added runs to the scoreboard. Freya Kemp’s counter-attacking knock of 51 runs of 37 balls handed them a fighting total. Bouchier scored 34 runs off 26 balls. With a 6-wicket loss, England reached 142 in 20 overs.
Sneh Rana was excellent with the ball and picked 3 important wickets for India. Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma claimed a wicket each.
India women were in an attacking mode with the bat as they made their task easier without breaking a sweat. Smriti Mandhana put on an attractive batting show as she played a magnificent knock of 79 runs with 13 boundaries to get the job done for the team.
Mandhana with the opener Shafali Verma (20 off 17) builds a stand of 55 runs from 35 balls. But Shafali was caught by Sophie Ecclestone at the end of the powerplay. Mandhana remained constant and had her half-century in 36 balls. With the terrific knock, Mandhana bagged the Player-of-the-match award.
“After the last match we needed to come back stronger and level the series. I was pushing myself not to play a rash shot and take it deep. It’s good to bat, good wicket. I found my touch back, timing the ball the way I want to. You go out as an opener and try to give your team a good start,” Mandhana said after the match.
Mandhana was well supported by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (29 off 22) with four boundaries as India scored 146/2 in 16.4 overs.
India women got their action together, first with the ball and then with the bat. The batters scale down the target with utmost ease. Now the series stands at 1-1. In the 1st match, England women were super with the ball as India lost the match by 9 wickets. The same was shown here by Indian women.
Now there is a series decider on Thursday, 15th September at Gloucestershire Cricket Stadium.
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