England trump India in Women’s T20 World Cup 2023

England Women pulled off a thrilling win against India in the 14th match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 on Saturday (February 18). Renuka Singh Thakur made headlines again with a five-wicket spell but Nat Sciver-Brunt’s fifty helped England to post a challenging total while batting first. Smriti Mandhana smashed her seventh WT20I fifty against England but the England bowlers managed to defend the total by 11 runs. Nat Sciver-Brunt was adjudged the Player of the Match.

Both England and India had won their opening two matches respectively in the tournament and were competing for a top spot in Group 2. Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bowl first at the St George’s Park in Gqeberha. Pacer Shikha Pandey replaced spin all-rounder Devika Vaidya for India while England remained unchanged from their last clash.

Renuka gave India a flying start with Danni Wyatt’s wicket on the matches’ third ball. Richa Ghosh took a splendid one-handed catch behind the stumps to remove Wyatt for a golden duck. Renuka then clean bowled Alice Capsey in the third over and Sophia Dunkley in the fifth over to put England under pressure.

But captain Heather Knight and star all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt stood firm against the Indian bowling attack with a crucial 51-run stand to drag England from 29/3 to 80/4. Pandey broke the partnership with Knight’s wicket in the 11th over but Nat Sciver-Brunt managed to register a fifty. She scored 50 off 42 balls before getting caught out on Deepti Sharma’s delivery in the 17th over.

Amy Jones added a crucial 40 off 27 to keep England on track for a big total. But Renuka hit back again in the last over with two wickets to complete her five-wicket haul. Apart from Renuka’s superb spell, Deepti and Shikha took a wicket each as England posted 151/7 in 20 overs.

Smriti gave India a good start in their chase with a 29-run partnership for the opening wicket alongside Shafali Verma. Speedster Lauren Bell gave England an opening with Shafali’s wicket in the fourth over but Smriti kept finding the runs at the other end.

Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur struggled to support Smriti and gave away their wickets cheaply. But the in-form youngster Richa Ghosh and Smriti pulled off a 43-run partnership for the fourth wicket to keep India alive in the chase.

Mandhana smashed 52 off 41 before getting out to Sarah Glenn’s delivery in the 16th over. Richa kept India’s hopes alive till the last over but England managed to survive by 11 runs. Glenn took two for 27 while Bell and Ecclestone bagged one wicket each for England as they restricted India to just 140/5 in 20 overs.

This is England’s sixth consecutive T20 World Cup win over India and now they further cement their top position in the Group 2 table with three wins in three games.