Three wickets for Charlie Dean and Danni Wyatt-Hodge‘s half-century in her 300th match for England set up a consolation victory for the hosts, who then held their nerve to pull off the highest successful run-chase in women’s T20Is on their home turf in another last-ball thriller against India, who won the series 3-2. Charlie Dean was the pick with 3-23, including Verma, Sophie Ecclestone took 2-28 and Linsey Smith picked up 1-26.
Charlie Dean was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional spell (4-0-23-3) with the ball for her side, playing a crucial role as England signed off the T20I series with a win to make the scoreline 3-2 in an enthralling series. A thrilling final over at Edgbaston saw England scrape past India by five wickets in a consolation win. It was England’s highest successful T20I chase at home but India claimed the five-match series 3-2.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The surface at Edgbaston in Birmingham generally offers good batting conditions. The fast bowlers will get some swing in the air; however, there could be minimal lateral movement on offer from the pitch.
Therefore, the batters can enjoy the conditions especially when the ball is new and hard. However, scoring runs against the older ball might be tricky, particularly if the seamers vary their pace and bowl more change-ups than the regular seam-ups.
Considering Edgbaston’s hot weather, expect a slightly dry surface where the spinners can get the ball to turn in the middle overs, especially in the second half. So, a total around 170 could be tough to chase for the team that bats second. Unless it’s a fresh wicket with a firm grass covering, the toss-winner should ideally bat first.
According to AccuWeather, the temperature at Edgbaston in Birmingham will be around 19°C, with a real feel of 17°C. Meanwhile, the wind will blow in the East/North-East direction, varying its speed between 15 to 35 km/h. The cloud cover at Edgbaston in Birmingham is expected to be zero per cent this evening. AccuWeather predicts a one per cent chance of precipitation; so, the fifth T20I between India Women and England Women won’t likely be marred by rain.
Toss : England Women skipper Tammy Beaumont won the toss and chose to bowl with Lauren Bell , Alice Capsey and Lauren Filer have been rested with ODIs in mind. India women skipper Harmanpreet Kaur also made two changes handing debut to Kranti Goud for Sneh Rana and bringing in Harleen Deol for Amanjot Kaur.
Shafali Verma’s 75 runs powers India to 167 for 7 after Charlie Dean’s 3-fer .
Earlier, Shafali Verma lit up the first innings with a blistering 75 off 41 balls, scoring 13 fours and a six. Despite losing Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues early, Shafali powered India to 94 for 3 at the halfway mark but England’s spinners were able to put in the squeeze.
Arlott and Smith returned to the England attack for the first time since the second match in Bristol as the hosts rested seamers Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer ahead of the ODIs. Smriti Mandhana, the leading run-scorer for the series, struck back-to-back fours off Arlott in the opening stanza, over mid-off and pulled in front of deep backward square leg, but her cut off the final ball of the over sailed into the hands of Smith at point.
Smith entered the fray in the third over and struck with her third delivery, a pinpoint-accurate ball which kept low as Jemimah Rodrigues stepped back to cut, missed and heard the stumps rattle.
After being dropped following India’s group-stage exit from the World Cup last October, Shafali was recalled for this series and had been making progress with scores of 20, 3, 47 and 31. She played a big part in lifting India to 47 for 2 at the end of the powerplay and shifted into another gear thereafter.
Issy Wong conceded 20 off her second over, the seventh of the match, which Shafali opened with a four and finished with a thunderous six down the ground. She then pulled wide of midwicket and struck through a desperately diving Wong on her follow-through.
Shafali dug out a full Ecclestone delivery and advanced, then retreated when she realised wicketkeeper Amy Jones was in a position to gather, an umpire review confirming the batter had recovered her ground before the bails were removed. She lofted Ecclestone’s next ball over extra cover to bring up her fifty off just 23 balls, drawing level with Mandhana as the second-fastest Indian woman to the milestone behind Richa Ghosh’s 18 balls against West Indies last year.
Shafali brought up India’s 100 with an emphatic four back over Arlott’s head and it took a brilliant catch from Maia Bouchier to remove her – and dim the memory of Bouchier sitting on her haunches with her head bowed as one of the many culprits in England’s poor fielding display against West Indies that saw them exit the T20 World Cup before the knockouts. Shafali skied a Charlie Dean delivery towards cow corner and Bouchier ran round to her right, timing her dive to perfection to take the ball cleanly just inside the rope.
Charlie Dean had already bowled Harmanpreet Kaur for 15 and she picked up her third when she trapped Deepti Sharma lbw. Bouchier took another calm catch in the deep to remove Richa and give Ecclestone a second wicket after she had pinned Harleen Deol’s back leg directly in front, attempting to sweep. It was a welcome return for Bouchier, who was dropped after the Ashes in January and only recalled partway through India’s visit as injury cover for captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.
Charlie Dean led the way with 3 for 23, including the key wickets of Shafali and Harmanpreet Kaur. Ecclestone picked up two, including the dangerous Richa Ghosh in the 19th over as India finished on 167 for 7, thanks to useful contributions from Ghosh, Radha and Arundhati in the final overs.
Danni- Wyatt’s half century in her 300th game steers England to a nervy win
Chasing 168, the hosts found themselves needing six runs in the last over. Arundhati Reddy bowled a superb first three balls, dismissing Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones while conceding only one run but Sophie Ecclestone and Paige Scholfield held their nerve to take England over the line, sealing the win off the last ball despite a close run-out chance at the non-striker’s end.
The foundation for England’s chase was laid by a 101-run opening stand between Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley. Wyatt-Hodge, playing her 300th international match, top-scored with 56 off 37 and was aggressive from the start. Dunkley supported her well with 46 off 30 as the pair made full use of the powerplay, racking up 57 in the first six.
Wyatt-Hodge’s 66 at The Oval in England’s only other win of this series – also secured off the last ball – had broken a run drought going back to the Ashes in January.
Opening partner Dunkley smoked a six over long-on off Arundhati, followed immediately by four down the ground. Their partnership passed fifty at the start of the sixth over and at the end of the powerplay, they were 57 without loss. Wyatt-Hodge accessed all areas with a quartet of fours off Arundhati’s second over. That put her on the cusp of her half-century, which she brought up off 30 balls with a pull through the deep midwicket region for two.
Radha Yadav broke the partnership in the 11th over, cleaning up Dunkley and that started a mini-collapse. Deepti Sharma removed Wyatt-Hodge and Maia Bouchier in quick succession and suddenly England were 139 for 3. Captain Beaumont brought some calm with her counter-attacking 30 off 20 balls but Reddy’s dramatic final over accounted for her first-ball.
Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge fell to spin within eight balls of each other, Dunkley within one strike of her half-century when she was bowled by Radha Yadav and Wyatt-Hodge advancing to Deepti, sending a leading edge to Rodrigues at mid-on.
Charani put down a sitter at short third off Amy Jones at the end of the 18th over, bowled by Arundhati, who had been expensive, conceding 41 off three overs. England needed six off the final over and when Arundhati sensationally claimed two wickets in the first three balls, they needed five off three. She took the pace off to bowl Beaumont with her first delivery of the 20th and Radha took a screamer off Jones at deep midwicket.
Radha then took a spectacular diving catch to dismiss Jones and England still needed five runs from three balls. Ecclestone then sliced a ball over short third for three runs, Scholfield tapped one into the off side and finally England squeezed a single to seal the win.
Ecclestone and Paige Scholfield scampered three after Ecclestone sliced through backward point and a single to Scholfield meant they needed one off the last. With the pressure high, Ecclestone pushed to mid-on, where Mandhana pounced but her throw to the non-striker’s end missed and Ecclestone was home.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Tammy Beaumont the winning England skipper said : Â Difficult series for us. Credit to India for playing challenging cricket. Proud of the girls today. Very glad that we got the win tonight. Just being calm in pressure situations. Lot of good balls went to the boundary when Shafali was batting.
We showed our character though. There has lot been said about our fielding. It would only get better. Lot being done about it behind the scenes. We know how dangerous Sophia and Danny can be. They got us ahead in the chase.
Harmanpreet Kaur the Series winning skipper said : Great achievement for all of us. Today we came up with a great effort. The way we fought back was outstanding. Whenever Smriti and Shafali bat, they dominate the opposition. It is all about training.
The camps we had before coming here helped us. I think we always look for 6 bowling options. Really happy the way the bowling unit bowled. We love the ODI format. I mean wherever we go, we get a lot of support from the Indian fans.
Charlie Dean Player of the Match for her 3-fer said : We took two early wickets. They batted well. Shafali created width. We had to bowl tight lines. Just kept it simple. I think Kaur is a fantastic player. Her match-up against off-spin was good. Depends on the pitch where all three spinners can play. Proud of the performance.
Shree Charani for her excellent debut series on receiving Player of the Series award said : I enjoyed a lot. It was great playing here at every venue. I just bowled to my strengths.
Three wickets for Charlie Dean and Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s half-century in her 300th match for England set up a consolation victory for the hosts, who then held their nerve to pull off the highest successful run-chase in women’s T20Is on their home turf in another last-ball thriller against India, who won the series 3-2.
Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley put on a 101-run opening stand, which allowed England to reel in a target of 168, set largely by Shafali Verma’s 75. Once they fell, however, England’s pursuit grew tougher and they needed six off the final over, which yielded two wickets for Arundhati Reddy but Sophie Ecclestone held her cool to take England over the line.
Shafali wrapped up her comeback in T20Is with her best innings of the series at Edgbaston, a 41-ball knock which rescued India from 19 for 2 in the third over and helped them to a respectable total of 167 for 7 despite none of her team-mates reaching 25 and only three joining her in double figures.
England put on an improved performance in the field, an area that has had them under fire since the T20 World Cup, and managed to keep India’s batters under some pressure, thanks to a regular stream of wickets. Em Arlott and Linsey Smith struck early before Charlie Dean claimed 3 for 23 with an economy rate of 5.75 and Ecclestone took 2 for 28.
India fought valiantly. England though managed to get over the line, only just. India managed 167 failing to get the final hurrah that they needed. England started off really well as Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge added 101 runs for the first wicket. It seemed England would chase it down very easily. But Indian bowlers made a late surge and had England on their knees. It is fitting that they have won the series as they were the better team on more occasions.
India and Arundhati Reddy had only 6 to defend and the bowler picked up 2 wickets off her first three balls in which she gave away only one run. But then Ecclestone got a triple and made it 2 off 2. And two singles resulted off the last two balls to hand England this tense win. Radha Yadav and that catch of hers in that last over will be replayed again and again as she put up an excellent effort under pressure. But her efforts didn’t bear much fruit as India went down.
The Indian team collect the Trophy. And pose for the shutterbugs. Not too many teams come to England and beat them in their own den. Indian Women’s team had their share of issues as well coming here. But they have answered every possible doubt with a series win. They lost two games but both of them were by close margins. But when they won, India were dominant and won easily. Now the focus shifts to the ODIs
Also Read:Â ENG-W vs IND-W: England Women Win A Thriller Against Run Of Play & Keep Series Alive