It was another disappointing effort by the Indian batters as they lost their 2nd successive match of the Tri-series against England played at Junction Oval, Melbourne on Friday.
England captain Heather Knight won the toss and decided to field first. Smriti Mandhana looked positive with her stroke play taking on the England bowlers. On the other hand, the youngster Shafali Verma did not face many balls. Before the end of power play overs, Ecclestone struck to dismiss Verma for 8 off 7 balls. At the end of six overs, Indian women were 39 for 1.
After the power play overs, Smriti Mandhana was dropped by Wyatt at backward square. Jemimah Rodrigues looked positive with her intent. With things looking bright for India, a brilliant leg-side catch by Amy Jones ended Smriti Mandhana innings for 45. The Indian batters struggled to score runs and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Harmanpreet Kaur also struggled with her timing scoring 14 off 23 balls. Veda Krishna Murthy’s poor form continued as she was dismissed for 2. Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy added 20 runs for the 7th wicket. Indian women posted 123 for 6 in 20 overs.
It was an ideal start for the Indian team as Rajeshwari Gayakwad dismissed Amy Jones in the first over. Katherine Brunt who was promoted to number 3 played attacking strokes along with Wyatt. Radha Yadav got the wicket of Wyatt for 14 off 16 balls. A brilliant deflection touch by Deepti Sharma hit her hands and ran out Katherine Brunt to put England under pressure at 28 for 3. At the end of six overs, England women were 39 for 3.
After the power play overs, Knight and Sciver played with positive intent taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries. Harmanpreet Kaur bought Rajeshwari Gayakwad into the attack and dismissed Heather Knight for 18. Knight and Sciver added 37 runs for the 4th wicket. Sciver and Fran Wilson did not allow the Indian spinners to settle playing sweeps. It was a good display of batting by the experienced Sciver who reached her fifty off 37 balls with a six. Rajeshwari Gayakwad dismissed Sciver off the next ball to end 49 runs stand for the 5th wicket. In an attempt to take a second run, Tammy Beaumont was run out. Laura Winfield hit the winning runs with a two and helped England win the match by 4 wickets with 7 balls to spare.
England women 124 for 6 in 18.5 overs (Nat Sciver 50, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 3/23) beat Indian women 123 for 6 in 20 overs ( Smriti Mandhana 45, Jemimah Rodrigues 23, Shrubsole 3/31) by 4 wickets.
Shrubsole for her 3 for 31 in 4 overs was awarded the player of the match. Indian women will play their last match of Tri-series against Australia tomorrow.
