India Women dished out an all-round performance with bat and ball to thrash England Women by 6 wickets at Old Trafford in Manchester to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5-match series with a game to spare. The Women in Blue lost the toss but pretty much dominated the whole match. First the spinners choked England to keep them down to 126/7 before the batters sensibly finished the job with 3 overs to spare to create history and win its first T20I series in England.
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, England Women never got going against the spin bowlers of India on a slow wicket and managed 126/7 in 20 overs with a couple of 20s from Sophia Dunkley and Tammy Beaumont. They were reduced to 101/7 and reached 126 thanks to Sophie Ecclestone and Isabella Wong who played brief cameos towards the end. Radha Yadav led the spinning charge picking up 2/15 in 4 overs while others chipped in as well.
In reply, India Women had to play sensibly and not give it away like they did at Lord’s and they did that by getting off to a solid start through Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma putting on 56 for the first wicket in 7 overs. The others chipped in with contributions with Jemimah Rodrigues (24*) and Richa Ghosh (7*) staying till the end and making sure India win with 3 overs to spare and 6 wickets in hand. It was a comfortable win for the Women in Blue.
Radha Yadav and co choke England to keep them to 126.Â
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, England Women never really got going and lost wickets at regular intervals to never have momentum in the innings. Danielle Wyatt-Hodge was the first to be dismissed as she fell to spin again. Charani providing the breakthrough as Wyatt-Hodge fell for 5 off 7 balls.
Sophia Dunkley her opening partner was next to go after getting a bit of a start as Deepti Sharma dismissed her for 22 off 19 balls with Radha Yadav pulling out a stunner at backward point diving forward inches from the ground. England lost 2 wickets in the powerplay and were 38/2 with Alice Capsey and Tammy Beaumont at the crease.
England failed to get momentum in the middle overs as run scoring was difficult on a slow track at Old Trafford. They did get occasional boundaries but nothing to put pressure on the Indians. There were a few lapses in the field by India which allowed England some extra runs. But the duo stayed unbeaten till 10 overs and at the halfway stage England were 68/2 having a platform to post 150 which would have been a good score on that pitch.
But after Drinks, Radha Yadav struck for India as she got rid of the England captain Tammy Beaumont for 20 off 19 balls. Arundhati Reddy took the catch running in from long-on and took a sharp catch sliding forward. That’s when the floodgates opened as England started to wickets at will.
Charani picked up her second wicket and got rid of Alice Capsey for 18 off 21 balls. Capsey decided to challenge the DRS call but to no avail as the review was lost. India tightened the noose with great fielding before Amanjot Kaur got into the wickets column by knocking over Amy Jones for 9. England had lost half their side before 100 in the 15th over.
Soon Radha Yadav got her second wicket and Arundhati Reddy her third catch of the match as Paige Scholfield departed for 16 off 18 balls. This was an easy catch for her at long-on. To make matters worse, Charlie Dean was run out in the last ball of the 17th over as Charani and Richa combined to complete it at the striker’s end. England were tottering at 101/7 in 17 overs and a score of 120 looked difficult at this stage.
Sophie Ecclestone was joined by Isabella Wong at this stage and the hope was to take England Women to a fighting score. The duo started to negotiate the next passage of play cautiously to tight Indian bowling and reached 110/7 in 19 overs. Couple of sixes in the final over off Deepti Sharma one by Sophie Ecclestone and one by Isabella Wong took the score beyond 120.
16 runs were scored off the final over as England finished with 126/7 in 20 overs. Ecclestone finished with 16* off 10 balls while Wong finished with 11* off 10 balls. 5 extras given by the Indian bowlers.
Radha Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for India Women, finishing with 2/15 in 4 overs. She was ably supported by young Nallapureddy Charani who finished with figures of 2/30 in 4 overs. Amanjot Kaur had a good day with the ball, finishing with 1/20 in 4 overs. Deepti Sharma’s final over went for 16 runs as she finished with figures of 1/29 in 4 overs.
Arundhati Reddy was wicketless in her 3 overs for 16 runs but picked up 3 catches while Sneh Rana’s only over went for 12 runs. That meant India Women had a target of 127 runs to win the match and series.
Shafali Verma’s blitz leads the chase as India secure a historic series win.Â
Chasing 127 for the win in match and series, India Women got off to a solid start courtesy of their openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. Shafali Verma was the aggressor of the two while Mandhana played herself in. The duo complimented each other really well. Verma survived a close run out scare in the third over but was largely untroubled out there.
Shafali Verma was dealing in boundaries and Mandhana was joining in the party from time to time. India brought up their 50 and of the partnership in 5 overs. The Indians were 53/0 after the powerplay and it was Charlie Dean who provided England the breakthrough as Shafali Verma fell for 31 off 19 balls. Shafali mistimed the sweep shot straight to Alice Capsey at deep backward square leg. India were 56/1 after 7 overs with the platform laid for the rest of the batters to take India home.
Jemimah Rodrigues came in to join her best mate Smriti Mandhana in the middle. The duo mixed caution and aggression really well but Ecclestone was not to be denied as she got rid of Smriti Mandhana for 32 off 31 balls striking in her 100th T20I. Mandhana tried to hit a tossed up delivery by coming down the track over long-off but got the thick outside edge to Lauren Filer at third man who made no mistake.
India were reduced to 69/2 in 9 overs when captain Harmanpreet Kaur replaced her deputy Smriti Mandhana in the middle. At the halfway stage, India were well-placed thanks to Shafali Verma’s blitz in the powerplay. They were 74/2 and required a mere 53 runs off 60 balls with 8 wickets in hand.
The duo played according to the merit of the ball without taking any risks as the required rate was well under control. In desperation, England burned a review as Sophie Ecclestone appealed against Kaur with the Impact Outside Leg. There were nervy moments against Ecclestone but the Indians managed to weather the storm.
Jemimah finally got herself a boundary as India’s 100 came up at the end of 14 overs as Lauren Bell went for a few runs today. India needed only 27 off 36 balls at this predicament. Harmanpreet then took a liking towards Charlie Dean smashing her for two consecutive boundaries as India got closer to the target. She hit Wong for a boundary next over but mistimed a full delivery outside off straight to Sophie Ecclestone at mid-off who makes no mistake. Kaur fell for 26 off 25 balls with India needing 10 more for the win.
England got another wicket soon as Amanjot Kaur was run out while trying to take the second run as Amy Jones whipped off the bails at the striker’s end from Charlie Dean’s throw. Amanjot tried to dive but in vain as the fourth one fell for India within touching distance of a win.
Richa Ghosh came in and got off the mark with a couple of runs before hitting Ecclestone for a boundary. She took a single off the 5th ball before Jemimah Rodrigues completed the formalities by sweeping the flighted ball to the fine leg region to win the game for India with 6 wickets and 3 overs to spare. Jemimah remained unbeaten on 24* off 22 balls. Richa was unbeaten on 7* off 4 balls.
England bowlers tried hard defending a paltry total. Sophie Ecclestone in her 100th T20I was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1/20 in 4 overs. Charlie Dean got a wicket in her 1/29 in 4 overs while Isabella Wong finished with 1/18 in 3 overs. There was also one run out in the innings. The total was too insufficient as 150 would have been a good score on this pitch. India won and there were wild celebrations in the Indian camp and deservingly so. Radha Yadav was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional figures of 2/15 in 4 overs.
What Lies Ahead.Â
After clinching the fourth T20I and taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5-match series, the Indian team is riding high on confidence. They will want to keep the momentum going and try and win the last match of the series to make a statement ahead of the 3-match ODI series that is to follow after this. England, on the other hand, will be smarting from this loss and would like to bounce back and finish the series on a high and get some momentum ahead of the ODIS.
The stage is set at Edgbaston in Birmingham for the fifth and final T20I of the series on 12th July i.e. Saturday. Edgbaston will hold great memories if you are an Indian Cricket Team fan as the Men’s Team won the Test match a few days ago. Will it be 4-1 or will it end 3-2. We shall find out on Saturday night at Edgbaston.
Also Read:Â ENG-W vs IND-W: England Women Win A Thriller Against Run Of Play & Keep Series Alive