England Women’s comprehensive efforts help them clinch T20I against India

England took on India in the final game of the T20I series at the County Ground in Bristol. It was a crucial fixture for both teams as the series was leveled at 1-1, courtesy of India’s comeback in the second game. But in the end, the hosts prevailed over the visitors as they restricted them to a low total and chased it down with ease to clinch the series 2-1.

England won the toss and put India to bat first. The Women in Blue did not get off to the ideal start as they faced a batting collapse very early in the game. A lot was expected from openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, but they failed to fire this time around. India had brought in Sabbhineni Meghana in place of Kiran Navgire for this fixture as she batted in the top order.

While she has provided India with some good innings in the past, today was just not her day. She initially struggled to get going and just when she found the opportunity to hit, ended up losing her wicket for a nine-ball duck. Dayalan Hemalatha’s poor form in the series continued as she walked off for a duck as well. All eyes were then on skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, but neither did her plans work out. While the English bowlers rejoiced, India’s lower order unit helped India reach a decent total.

After Deepti Sharma’s crucial knock of a 25-ball 24 under pressure came to an end, Richa Ghosh did the fireworks, and Pooja Vastrakar joined her soon on the field after India lost Sharma and Sneh Rana. When India was struggling to cross the three-figure mark on the scoreboard, a whopping 43 runs came off the final three overs courtesy of Ghosh and Vastrakar’s batting and the brilliant running between the wickets, which helped India reach 122/8.

England’s middle-order batters capitalized on the openers’ start

On the contrary, England got off to a great start while chasing the 123-run target, when openers Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt shared a massive 70-run stand with the former taking charge of the game brilliantly. Dunkley was on the go from the moment she entered the game with the bat and started piling up runs as soon as she saw the opportunity.

The partnership was broken late in the 10th over when Wyatt was dismissed by Rana, but Dunkley kept going. Radha Yadav delivered a brilliant maiden 11th over, which put a pause on Dunkley’s momentum as she was just a run away from her half-century. Dunkley had gotten very close to her fifty, but six dot balls on the trot made her even more desperate to try and hit the ball.

Thanks to that effort by Yadav, Dunkley lost momentum in the next over when she faced Pooja Vastrakar and was dismissed for 49(44). After dismissing the openers, the Indian bowlers managed to send the English skipper Amy Jones back to the pavilion, and just when it looked like India had bounced back in the game Alice Capsey put up a brilliant show on display.

Capsey carried the game forward there on and did not let India a single opportunity to go for a win. Her 38*(24) helped the English side survive the wickets scare, and she brought her team back into the game by playing the match-winning knock. Thanks to her power-hitting abilities, England successfully chased down the target with 10 deliveries to spare and win the series 2-1.