India Women stunned England Women once again to go 2-0 up in the 5-match series. In this clash, they beat England by 24 runs and outplayed them in all facets of the game. While things are looking good and positive for the Women in Blue, the same cannot be said about the hosts.
These two defeats are a real wake-up call for them, and they seriously need to introspect on the way forward. They can definitely make a comeback in the series, but in order to know that, they need to know the reasons and areas they are falling short. Here we will list out three reasons why England lost the second T20I.
England’s top order continuous failures in big chase
England were set a target of 182 to chase which was slightly above par in Bristol but not impossible for England Women who bat deep. But it was important for the top order to get a start and lay the platform for the middle order to shine. Unfortunately, for the second clash in a row, they failed to fire. The openers Sophia Dunkley and Danielle Wyatt-Hodge were dismissed cheaply contributing 1 run each. Dunkley was run out while Wyatt fell to spin once again for the second match in a row. The hosts were 2/2 in 1.1 over.
It didn’t help England that last match’s top-scorer and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt also missed out and fell for 13 off 10 balls to leave the England precariously placed at 17/3 in 3.3 overs. The hosts never really recovered from this start in this chase of 182 and fell short in the end.
Yes, Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones played well and scored 54 off 35 balls and 32 off 27 balls respectively in a 70-run stand off 49 balls to resurrect England to a degree. But it was a bridge too far as India broke the partnership and got wickets at regular intervals. Despite Sophie Ecclestone’s 35 off 23 balls, England fell short of the target by 24 runs. This is an area where England have to improve as having a good start is half job done.
Ineffective bowling post powerplay and lack of support for Lauren Bell hurts England badly
England won the toss and decided to bowl first which was an interesting call. But they justified it by getting early wickets of India. Shafali Verma fell cheaply while last match’s centurion Smriti Mandhana fell for 13 and Harmanpreet Kaur the captain for 1. India were reduced to 31/3 in 5.1 overs and had scored 35/3 in the powerplay. But post the powerplay, England lacked the cutting edge.
The duo of Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur rebuilt the innings and put on a partnership of 93 runs off 55 balls. Rodrigues made 63 off 41 balls while Amanjot remained unbeaten on 63 off 40 balls. Richa Ghosh played the perfect role of a finisher and scored 32* off 20 balls as the duo put on 57* runs off 34 balls.
England failed to make inroads in the middle overs and at the death and that allowed India to flourish and credit to India for playing so well. Lauren Bell was the standout bowler with figures of 2/17 in 4 overs. She was excellent in Nottingham as well but much like that game, here also there was lack of support from the other bowlers and ineffectiveness as well.
Sophie Ecclestone went wicketless which is strange but she is coming back after a break and looks a tad rusty. Lauren Filer picked up a wicket but was expensive and the same goes for Emily Arlott. Spinner Linsey Smith was expensive as well as India played the spinners well.
The bowling unit needs to perform as a unit and support Bell to be more incisive as a unit. They had India on the mat but could not keep the pressure going. The hosts need to tighten the grip on the match and not let the opposition off the hook if they have them in trouble.
England’s apparent weaknesses against spin bowling
Another glaring aspect that has come to light in this series so far is England’s weakness against spinners. England struggled in Nottingham under good batting conditions to the Indian spinners and it was much of the same in Bristol. They struggled to rotate the strike as Danielle Wyatt-Hodge fell to spin once again. Deepti Sharma had gotten rid of her in the first T20I and history repeated itself in the second match in Bristol as well.
One bowler who has had success against England Women has the been the youngster Nallapureddy Charani. She is having a breakthrough series so far. She picked up a four-wicket haul in the first T20I and followed that up by picking up a couple of wickets in the second T20I. She ended up with figures of 2/28 in 4 overs which included he wickets of Amy Jones and Alice Capsey. England haven’t been able to play her properly. Yes, Radha Yadav and Sneh Rana were neutralized but playing against spin has been a bane for England so far in the series.
Credit must also be given to India Women for recovering from a shaky start and posting 181 courtesy brilliant knocks from Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur alongside the finishing kick delivered by Richa Ghosh. This was followed by an all-round bowling display led by Charani to keep England down to 157/7.
What did not help England Women was three runs out in the innings as Sophia Dunkley, Tammy Beaumont and Sophie Ecclestone ran themselves out. These are areas that England must work on to come back in this 5-match series against a good disciplined Indian side.
What Lies Ahead
India Women lead the series 2-0 with 3 matches still to play. The Women in Blue will look to seal a series win in the next game itself, which will take place at the Oval in London on July 4th i.e. Friday. They won’t want to give England a foot in the door. England Women must be hurting at this stage and would like to make a roaring comeback in the series at the Oval.
The hosts have the personnel to turn things around but they will have to do it under extreme pressure against a good Indian side. Lots of areas to work on for England.
Will India Women seal the series at the Oval on Friday and give all Indians something to smile about? Or will England Women make a roaring comeback at the Oval and keep the series alive? Only time will tell as this series is turning out to be a must-watch for all.
Also Read: ENG-W vs IND-W: Trent Bridge Turned Blue — With Smriti Mandhana’s Ton , Fire, & Pride