There’s little doubt that Deepti Sharma could walk into India’s ODI squad as a bowler alone. Her three five-wicket hauls – the most by an India player in Women’s ODIs – speak volumes of her bowling pedigree. Deepti Sharma‘sbatting, however, has often been a subject of debate – not over her ability but her approach.
Across 92 ODI innings, Deepti Sharma’s strike rate sits at a modest 67.91. For someone who usually bats in the lower middle order, there’s a general sense that Deepti Sharma hasn’t quite unlocked her full potential, despite being nearly a decade into her international career. Deepti Sharma has struck at 77.74 since the start of 2022, but that’s still in the bottom half (35th) of the 57 batters to have scored at least 500 ODI runs in this period.
Which is why eyebrows were raised when Deepti Sharma was promoted to No. 6, ahead of Richa Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur, in the first ODI against England on Wednesday in Southampton. India were 127 for 4 in the 28th over, with the required rate already nudging six an over. Deepti Sharma responded with an unbeaten 64-ball 62, forging crucial partnerships with Jemimah Rodrigues (48 off 54) and Amanjot (20* off 14) to help seal a four-wicket win with 10 balls to spare.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The Rose Bowl in Southampton has hosted a total of three WODIs so far. The average first innings in these matches has been 201 runs. The last WODI game was played here between Australia and England. Both teams scored over 250 runs in the game. The surface might remain balanced in this game.
Toss : England Women skipper Nat-Sciver Brunt won the toss and chose to bat with 3 seamers and 2 spinners in the Playing XI. India Woman skipper Harmanpreet Kaur bowling first chose to go with 3 spinners and 2 seamers in the Playing XI.
Birthday girl Sophia Dunkley’s 83* and Alice Davidson-Richards 53 powers England to 258 for 6 in 50 overs
India struck early on, with Goud bowling an unplayable delivery which nipped back and clipped the bails to see the back of Amy Jones. In an interesting sequence of play, Goud bowled three wide balls on the trot before unleashing the jaffa. The youngster picked up her second with a beautiful inswinger to trap Tammy Beaumont on the pads. Despite being given not-out on-field, DRS went in India’s favour and ball-tracking confirmed three reds. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Emma Lamb began a counterattack with four boundaries in the last three overs of the PowerPlay.
Unable to reprise the success of their opening partnership which yielded 424 runs in two matches against West Indies earlier this summer, Jones and Tammy Beaumont both fell cheaply as England slumped to 20 for 1 in the first four overs. That was thanks to Goud, the 21-year-old right-arm seamer making just her third international appearance. She started inauspiciously with a dot ball then three consecutive wides before sending down an absolute gem that nipped back off the seam, beat Jones’s bat and crashed into the top of off stump.
It took an India review to give Goud her second when she rapped Beaumont on the front pad as she strode across her stumps, with ball-tracking confirming impact on the top of middle and off. India turned to spin at the start of the middle overs but the flurry of boundaries continued for England with the partnership going past 50 as well.
Sciver-Brunt and Emma Lamb repaired the damage with a 71-run partnership for the third wicket. They struggled to find the boundary through overs 13-17, however, as India mixed up their bowling options and it was Rana who removed both in the space of 12 deliveries.But just when things were looking ominous for India, Rana got Lamb to chip one straight to mid-off. The wily offspinner picked up Sciver-Brunt in her next over, as Jemimah Rodrigues took a worldie of a catch at mid-wicket.
Lamb tried to break the shackles and picked out Harmanpreet at mid-off, and a wonderful catch by Rodrigues at short midwicket sent Sciver-Brunt on her way.
The two new batters of Dunkley and Davidson Richards brought England firmly back into the contest. They got through a quiet period of play dominated by the Indian spinners before the latter found her first boundary with a loft down the ground in the 27th over. To India’s dismay, both batters were given a reprieve in the middle of the hosts rebuilding their innings and the batters made the most of their second lives. They ensured the score kept ticking over when they weren’t finding the boundary and Dunkley brought up a 68-ball 50 on her birthday.
Davidson Richards moved to the milestone two overs later but was stumped off Shree Charani, soon after. The last five overs were a productive phase for the hosts with 49 runs scored. Dunkley was the main aggressor, scoring five boundaries in this phase while Sophie Ecclestone hung around and chipped in some useful runs before the half-centurion was dismissed on the last ball of the innings off Amanjot Kaur.
Shree Charani, Player of the Series with 10 wickets in the T20Is, broke the union between Dunkley and Davison-Richards when she had the latter stumped, despite a fumble from wicketkeeper Ghosh. Dunkley fell on the last ball, bowled by Amanjot’s full-length cutter, a neat cameo of 23 not out from 19 balls by Sophie Ecclestone adding valuable runs but it wasn’t enough.
Deepti Sharma’s 62 * spoils Sophia Dunkley’s birthday party as India defeats England by 4 wickets
India began their reply in steady fashion. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal took a couple of overs to get their eye in but the former was very strong on the onside. She brought out the flicks and pulls, especially against Lauren Bell. Rawal was elegant with some backfoot punches to the fence and the pair brought up 1000 partnership runs as a pair. But against the run of play, Mandhana’s stay at the crease came to an end after nicking behind.
India’s top order made starts but could not convert. Lauren Bell removed the threat of Smriti Mandhana, the leading run-scorer by some way on the T20I leg of the tour, via a faint edge to wicketkeeper Amy Jones for a 24-ball 28 in the eighth over. Fellow opener Pratika Rawal faced 51 deliveries for her 36 before she was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone to make it 94 for 2 in the 19th.
Despite the wicket, India continued the mojo with Rawal and Harleen Deol. The latter scored three boundaries off Lauren Filer but England introduced Sophie Ecclestone after the PowerPlay – for an eight-over spell – and after keeping the scoring tight from her end, had Rawal bowled. Soon after, in a careless bit of running, Deol was run out after not grounding her bat in the crease. Things continued to go the hosts’ way as Harmanpreet Kaur was trapped LBW by Charlie Dean – the decision initially given not out was overturned by DRS.
When Harleen Deol was unnecessarily run out via a direct hit from Davidson-Richards because she left her bat hovering off the ground well beyond the crease while her foot was short of the crease, England were in the contest. And Dean bettered the hosts’ position when she got one to grip from outside off and strike Harmanpreet Kaur on the knee-roll, England’s review bearing fruit when the ball was shown to be hitting middle stump. At that point, India needed 135 runs at just under a run a ball.
It was then the partnership of 90 runs between Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma that turned the game. Both batters scored quick boundaries off Dean while Lamb was too erratic with her control. Deepti Sharma then slog-swept Bell into the stands as the run scoring continued to gather momentum. The hosts did not appeal for a ball that struck Deepti Sharma on the thigh pad – but ball-tracking showed three reds as England missed out on a golden chance for a wicket.
Deepti Sharma took control, striking the only six of the match when she launched Bell over deep midwicket to move into the 30s. She was on 40 when Bell beat her attempted pull and hit the pad, the ball racing away for four leg byes when replays suggested she would have been given out lbw had England reviewed. Rodrigues was on 48 when she messed up an attempted scoop of Lauren Filer, gloving the ball to Jones to give England another opening.
Deepti Sharma brought up her fifty off 52 balls sweeping Dean to deep square leg. When Dean had Richa Ghosh stumped advancing down the pitch in her final over, India needed 30 runs off 33 balls but Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur saw them home.
But they did strike twice with the wickets of Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh in quick succession to bring them back in the contest while Deepti Sharma moved to 50. Eventually, Amanjot and Deepti Sharma were clinical in finding the boundaries and took India past the finish line with 10 balls to spare.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Nat Sciver Brunt the losing England skipper said : That recovery partnership was brilliant, Sophia (Dunkley) was brilliant but we did lose too many clusters of wickets. (On the surface) The outfield dried out through our batting innings, we knew we’d have to be running quite a lot. 280 would have been ideal for this wicket.
The way we stayed in the game was brilliant, the way we built the pressure. We need to show a bit more discipline. (On the LBW of Deepti Sharma that wasn’t reviewed) There wasn’t much of an appeal, we all felt it was going down. A bit of a weird one, happens sometimes.
Harmanpreet Kaur the winning Indian skipper said : Great feeling, credit goes to our bowlers and then the way Deepti played was brilliant. I feel we gave 20-30 runs extra, but we knew this was a good wicket to bat on. (On the fielding today) Fielding is something we are working on, we missed a few chances today but we will make it up next time.
(On Jemimah and Deepti’s batting) It was an important contribution, Jemimah’s calmness on the field is fantastic, and credit goes to Deepti today for the way she batted.
Deepti Sharma Player of the Match for her 62* said : Â I was waiting for an opportunity like this. I wanted to build a partnership with Jemimah, scores 5-6 runs an over consistently.(On her sweep shots) I have worked a lot on it early days, and it helps on this kind of track. (On the one-handed six) I play these shots in practice, I picked that up from Rishabh Pant. We have played in England before, we enjoy these conditions.
Carrying on their mojo from the T20I series win, India began the ODI series in similar fashion with a comfortable four-wicket victory to take a 1-0 series lead over England. Deepti Sharma scored an unbeaten 62 and was well supported by Jemimah Rodrigues (48) in the chase of 259. But, the win was set up by Kranti Goud (2-55) and Sneh Rana (2-31) with the ball. Sophia Dunkley (83) and Alice Davidson Richards (53) scored fighting fifties to take the hosts to a respectable score after they were 97 for 4 at one stage.
Deepti Sharma gave India the upper hand against England again, although in more conventional style this time, with a match-winning half-century at Southampton for a 1-0 lead in their three-match ODI series.
The last time these sides met in an ODI in England, in 2022, Deepti Sharma scored an unbeaten fifty to rescue her side from an early stumble then ran out Charlie Dean while backing up on the last ball to seal a 3-0 ODI series sweep at Lord’s.
On Wednesday night, Deepti Sharma’s unbeaten 62 off 64 balls allowed India to chase down 259 to win by four wickets with 10 balls to spare. Her 90-run partnership for the fifth wicket off 86 balls with Jemimah Rodrigues trumped the corresponding century stand between Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson-Richards, who both passed fifty to take England to 258 for 6.
Both sides made a scrappier start than they might have liked to their build-up for the World Cup, which starts in India and Sri Lanka in 11 weeks’ time. India missed chances in the field and made hard work of their pursuit early, while England were forced to defend a modest total after suffering an early batting collapse and ultimately couldn’t take the wickets they needed.
A superb run chase from India as their middle-order stepped up perfectly to the big occasion. Chasing 259, India lost Smriti Mandhana early, but then a partnership developed between Harleen Deol and Pratika Rawal. They batted well but perhaps a bit too slowly, and then Rawal was knocked over by a Sophie Eccelstone arm ball. Deol was lazily run out a few overs later, and then Harmanpreet was trapped LBW.
India’s chase was going nowhere with the score at 124/4. However, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma turned the tide. They swept for fun and made the English spinners alter their lengths. They got a 90 run partnership before Rodrigues was dismissed, and then Richa Ghosh was needlessly stumped. However, Amanjot Kaur came out and got the winning runs, while Deepti Sharma ended with 62 unbeaten, capping off a famous chase for Team India.
India Women have now won 11 of their last 12 ODIs, a sequence that started with the home series against the West Indies in December. Deepti Sharma’s 62* is the highest score from No.6 or lower for India Women in an ODI run-chase, surpassing Veda Krishnamurthy’s 52* vs WI-W (Vijayawada, 2016).
So India take a 1-0 lead in the ODI series. They now have a chance to claim the series at the home of cricket come Saturday. But England, just like the men’s team, would hope to forge a comeback at Lord’s.
Also Read:Â ENG-W vs IND-W: England Women Win A Thriller Against Run Of Play & Keep Series Alive