England Women kept the series alive at the Oval by roaring back to win by 5 runs as India Women blew a golden opportunity away by clinching the series. Despite fielding very poorly and collapsing in the backend of the batting innings, England still won the game. India will have to rue this and think where did they lose the game. There were reasons for this defeat. We will list out three reasons for India’s surprising defeat in the third match.
Inability to take wickets with the new ballÂ
England Women won the toss and unlike the last two games decided to bat first on this occasion. England missed the services of Nat Sciver-Brunt as Tammy Beaumont led the side in her absence. After a cautious start both Sophia Dunkley and Danielle Wyatt-Hodge stepped up the gear and put on 137 for the first wicket in 15.1 overs. India failed to get wickets in the powerplay and even in the middle phase which meant England had a big platform for a huge total.
It is true that the bowlers fought back in the death overs and kept the runs down by taking wickets at regular intervals. 9 of them in fact. But the start meant England would get 170 at the bare minimum which was a competitive score at the Oval.
The opening partnership somewhat took the game away from India and it is something they will want to address and get better at the coming games. They did well in the first two games while defending scores, this was a situation where things really did not go their way.
Lack of strike rotation by the Indian batters.Â
The main reason for this loss lay in the batting display more than the bowling if we are being brutally honest. India were in match winning situations multiple times and aided by dropped catches but they failed to take those opportunities with both hands.
One of the key aspects of this loss was lack of strike rotation by the Indian batters in the chase. Yes, they got off to a great start but hardly rotated the strike. The runs were either fours and sixes and not many singles. Lots of dot balls were played.
This is one area, India must improve not only doing well in the remaining games but also to do well in multi-nation tournaments. Strike rotation is key in any format even in the shortest format of the game. One felt India got stuck in the middle overs and that allowed the pressure to build and required rate to climb up. These little things and one percenters matter in a closely fought game and India did not quite do that well at The Oval.
Lack of power hitting by finishers.Â
One of the other main reasons for India to lose was lack of power hitting by the designated finishers in the team. The Women in Blue got off to a great start scoring 61/0 in the powerplay and 97/1 in 10 overs. But with 75 needed off the last 60 balls, they failed to close the deal under pressure. The required rate climbed and they wilted under pressure.
One can argue that the set batter should have finished things off and Smriti Mandhana got 56 off 49 balls but fell at the wrong time. India had plenty of batting to come but their designated finishers couldn’t take the side home. Their designated finisher Richa Ghosh fell to a brilliant catch by Charlie Dean but she should have done better.
Amanjot Kaur and Harmanpreet Kaur were trying but when under pressure they failed to take the side over the line. On another day, India would have won but it was not to be despite England’s poor fielding day.
This is an area India seriously needs to work on as they tend to crumble in the chase. We have seen that in the past as well. In order to do well in big events, India needs to tighten themselves up in close games and win against big sides. Yes, they lead the series 2-1 but an opportunity was there to close it out and they blew that chance away.
What Lies Ahead
The bandwagon will shift to Old Trafford in Manchester for the fourth T20I on 9th July i.e. Wednesday. India leads the series 2-1 and must aim to seal the series there as they will not want a situation of 2-2 going into the final game in Edgbaston. England with newfound belief and confidence will be itching to level the series and push for a decider later on.
It was an incredible game and we shall wait for the fourth instalment of this series to see how things unfold. Will India seal it in Manchester? Or are we going into a decider at Edgbaston? Only time will tell as we wait for the 9th of July to come our way.