England almost chased the record total of 319 in the decider, but fell short of just 13 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur smashed her fastest century in ODIs, and Kranti Goud entered the elite list of six-fers for India. Let’s look at the key reasons for England‘s defeat against India.
Failed to break partnerships
England bowlers failed to take back-to-back wickets and put pressure on Indian batters throughout the innings. Every batter who came to crease crossed double-digit scores ( Smriti Mandhana ( 45 ), Pratika Rawat ( 26 ), Harleen Deol ( 45 ), Harmanpreet Kaur ( 102 ), Jemimah Rodrigues ( 50 ), Richa Gosh ( 38 ) ) except Radha Yadhav, who faced just two balls and scored two runs.
The lowest partnership was 14 runs for the sixth wicket, and the second lowest is 17 runs for the second wicket. Every other partnership was more than 30 runs. The bowlers couldn’t break the momentum, and there is a settled batter in the crease.
This led the Indian team to post a massive score of 318/5 on the board.
Except Sophie Ecclestone, who bowled an exceptional spell of 10-28-1, every other bowler went for more than 6 runs per over.
Early blows
England lost both of their openers within 3 overs for single-digit scores. They were reduced to 8/2 in 2.1 overs. Good start, and utilizing the powerplay is a must in chasing such high totals. From there, Emma Lamb and Nat-Sciebver Brunt took some time to settle down in the crease.
One of the batters from the top 3 must stay till the end to phase the chase. That didn’t happen for England.
Back-to-back wickets
England lost wickets at regular intervals in the death overs. India had four 30-plus partnerships out of the six partnerships they had. England had only three 30-plus partnerships out of ten. They collapsed from 264/5 to 305/10. Their second highest partnership is just 36.
Apart from the huge partnership of 162 runs from Emma Lamb and Nat Sciver Brunt for the third wicket, England couldn’t find any big partnerhips to chase the total.
They also lost wickets at the crucial moments of the match. Emma and Brunt built a huge partnership, but both of them got out in the gap of 26 deliveries. Emma got out at 170/3 in 30.4 overs and Brunt got out on 195/4 in the last ball of 35th over.
England lost both of their well-settled batters in the gap of just 5 overs, and also in a crucial moment where they have to start attacking. The other batters took some time and that created pressure on them a the required run-rate kept increasing.
Still, England find their way too close to the target, but fell short of few boundaries in the death overs.
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