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Women’s T20: India’s batting routed, England seal series
The visitors won the second T20 by four wickets after dismissing India for 80, their third lowest T20I total, at the Wankhede Stadium
On a momentous day for Indian women’s cricket when the second WPL player auction produced a number of impressive bids, the senior team produced a dismal batting performance as England won the second T20 International by four wickets at the Wankhede Stadium here to bag the three-match series.
Having lost the opener by 38 runs, India were skittled out for 80 – their third-lowest total in T20Is. Despite a bit of a collapse towards the end, the visitors rode on a 42-run partnership between Alice Capsey and Natalie Sciver-Brunt to complete the chase in 11.2 overs.
Renuka Singh picked two wickets with the new ball again, Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt, who starred for England in the first game, were clean bowled with in-swingers. Later, Deepti Sharma dismissed Amy Jones and Freya Kemp off consecutive deliveries to give the crowd something to cheer. But the result was never in doubt and skipper Heather Knight remained unbeaten to help her team win with 52 balls to spare.
Both teams made one change each, albeit with contrasting approaches. While England removed left-arm pacer Mahika Gaur and brought in off-spinner Charlie Dean, India included right-arm pacer Titas Sadhu in place of off-spinning all-rounder Kanika Ahuja.
It was England’s change that worked like a charm early on. Dean dismissed Shafali Varma, who hit a half-century in the last game, with the second ball of the match before switching ends to get Smriti Mandhana out leg before. Both the Indian openers were perhaps guilty of going back to deliveries they should’ve played on the front foot.
With her team in a tight spot early in the contest, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur began on a positive note and hit Sciver-Brunt for consecutive fours. But England’s star all-rounder had the last laugh two balls later with a delivery that cut in sharply and trapped Harmanpreet in front.
Pacer Lauren Bell got Deepti nicked off for a two-ball duck and India’s innings was left in tatters at 33/4 at the end of the Powerplay. And that’s when Sophie Ecclestone joined the attack. The left-arm spinner, who took 3/15 in the previous game, made an impact in her first over itself by taking a stunning return catch to dismiss Richa Ghosh.
The rest of India’s batting order didn’t do much either. Only Jemimah Rodrigues, who had walked in at No.3, managed to stick around and score a 33-ball 30.
Brief Scores: India 80 in 16.2 overs (Jemima Rodrigues 30, Charlie Dean 2/16, Sophie Ecclestone 2/13, Sarah Glenn 2/13); England 82/6 in 11.2 overs (Alice Capsey 25, Renuka Singh 2/26, Deepti 2/4). England won by 4 wickets.
