India women seal historic series in England courtesy spinners, as visitors comfortably chase down 127 for unassailable 3-1 lead.
Spinners set up historic series win for India women.
India Women’s first T20I series win on English soil was another milestone following their 3-0 ODI series triumph in 2022. Less than a year before they return to these shores to try to win their first T20 World Cup, the outcome is particularly noteworthy.
India’s spinners, Shree Charani and Radha Yadav, took a combined 4 for 45 in eight overs to limit England to 126 for 7 when they decided to bat for the second consecutive game, which helped shape Wednesday’s triumph at Old Trafford.
India’s openers, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, demonstrated that those runs were hardly sufficient in just four overs.
India removed both of England’s openers during the powerplay by applying early spin pressure. Sophia Dunkley hit Charani for a four and a six in her opening three deliveries, but Charani responded in the same over when Danni Wyatt-Hodge misplayed a slog to long-on.
With Radha making a deft diving grab at point, Deepti Sharma tricked Dunkley in flight, luring her into an uppish drive and causing her to fall in the sixth over. With the crucial wicket, Deepti surpassed Nida Dar’s record to become the most wicket-taking spinner in women’s Twenty20 Internationals.
No boundaries came off the bat from the middle of the 10th over to the end of the 19th, lasting 56 deliveries, as the innings stalled through the middle overs. England’s problems were exacerbated by poor running between the wickets, including a costly mix-up that resulted in Charlie Dean’s run-out at backward point. India’s catching, cutting off angles, and ground fielding were all really impressive.
In the final over, Sophie Ecclestone finally ended the boundary drought by pushing Amanjot Kaur over the midwicket fence, commemorating her 100th T20I in front of a home audience. Using the wind to her advantage, she finished that off with two slog sweeps for sixes against Deepti, giving England a late boost.
With unrestrained aggression, Shafali responded to England’s short-handed offensive. She just backed away to swing, shovel, and slap her way to three fours and fourteen runs in the second over off Lauren Filer, demonstrating that she was unafraid of hard lengths and deliveries dug into the pitch.
In order to avoid being overshadowed, Mandhana joined the attack and hit Dean cleanly over mid-on. In order to maintain pressure on England, the two increased their partnership’s half-century in the seventh over. On 29, Ecclestone ran back from mid-off at the end of the powerplay and narrowly missed capturing Shafali. However, Shafali hacked one to deep square on 31 so England didn’t have to pay for it.
The visitors went 40 balls without a boundary from overs 7.2 to 13.6, with Jemimah Rodrigues ending the run with a lofted hit off Lauren Bell. Soon after, India lost Mandhana as well after she sliced a catch to short third. Harmanpreet Kaur also had trouble with timing, and Ecclestone almost worked her over several times.
She put the next ball away to the deep square leg fence, ending the fight. From that point on, victory was not far off.
Along the way, Harmanpreet and Rodrigues put up 48 off 42, making sure India didn’t make the same mistake they had earlier in the week. Despite Harmanpreet’s absence, Rodrigues was undefeated on 24 and brought up the winning runs with a paddle to help her team win.