The Indian Women on Wednesday succumbed to a defeat in the IND W vs ENG W in the 1st T20I. Chasing a target of 197, Shafali Verma’s half-century went in vain as India fell short by 38 runs.
Indian Women captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bowl. The Indians started off in brilliant fashion, with medium pacer Renuka Singh taking two back to back wickets in the first over.
England opener Sophia Dunkley was the first one to depart, inside-edging a ball on to her pads before rolling over to knock off the bells. Alice Capsey departed in the next ball, being done over by a beautiful Renuka Singh delivery. The ball swung ever-so-slightly after pitching to beat Capsey at the off stump.
England were at 2/2 after the fall of the second wicket. However, Danni Wyatt and and Nat Sciver-Brunt stitched a long partnership to steady the ship and put England at an advantage. When Danni Wyatt departed at 75 of 47 balls, The duo had stitched a 138-run partnership. Sciver-Brunt carried on, playing an innings of 77 of 53 balls. Amy Jones produced a late onslaught with her 23-run innings of 9 balls to help England finish their innings at 197/6.
Renuka Singh starred in Indian bowling with 3 wickets conceding just 27 runs in four overs. However, the rest of the bowlers went for a hammering, with almost everyone conceding over 10 runs per over.
India had a fast start to their innings, with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma scoring 20 in the first two overs. However, Sciver-Brunt continued her fine form in the match and provided the breakthrough for English side in the third over, taking Mandhana’s wicket. Jemmiah Rodrigues departed soon after, as skipper Harmanpreet Singh came out to bat. Kaur, along with Shafali kept India in the hunt with a steady partnership, scoring around 8 runs an over.
The captain departed in the 11th over, as the required rate climbed to over 11 runs per over. While Shafali Verma held her end, Richa Ghosh played some big shots to keep the asking rate within reach. In spite of the batters’ efforts, the required rate kept climbing. Sarah Glen got rid of Richa as the chase looked steeper to climb. Shafali completed her 50 but the England bowlers made it hard for the Indian batters to chase the high score.
With 57 needed of 3 overs, Shafali departed trying to look for a big shot. Kanika Ahuja followed suit and India stared down the barrel of defeat. Ultimately, India fell short by 38 runs.
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