One final dress rehearsal for India and England ahead of the 10th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup from 12th June came in a high-stakes T20I series decider at Taunton on 2nd June 2026. The home side levelled the T20I series (1-1) by winning the 2nd T20I by 26 runs on Saturday.
The home side retained the same team that took the field in their previous clash. Kranti Gaud returned to the side for the visitors, replacing Shreyanka Patil in the starting 11 for the final game of the series.
Skipper Charlie Dean scored a hat-trick by winning her 3rd straight toss in the series, and opted to bowl first. The Indian openers, Shafali Verma (11 off 6 balls), in particular, alongside Smriti Mandhana, provided India with a flying start with a 19-run opening stand. Linsey Smith dismissed Shafali Verma in the 2nd over of the innings to provide the crucial first breakthrough for England. Skipper Charlie Dean removed Smriti Mandhana (8 off 9 balls) in the 4th over of the innings to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Substantial partnerships of 24 runs for the 3rd wicket between Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia (32 off 18 balls), followed by a solid 40-run stand for the 4th wicket between Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, and a 67-run stand alongside Deepti Sharma (32 off 24 balls) for the 5th wicket proved pivotal as India posted 180/5 in their quota of 20 overs.
Yastika Bhatia’s impressive cameo (32 off 18 balls) ended in an unfortunate run-out; Jemimah Rodrigues (29 off 19 balls) chipped in with a handy cameo. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (56* off 40 balls) registered an unbeaten, her maiden half-century against England in the format, holding the innings together. Lauren Bell (4-0-36-2), skipper Charlotte Dean (4-0-33-1), and Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-33-0) were impressive with the ball for England. Linsey Smith (4-0-40-1) played her part in her spell for her side.
India were off to a dream start, dismissing the English top-order inside the powerplay. Former skipper Heather Knight joined Alice Capsey at the crease with England in trouble at 38/3 in the final over of the powerplay, chasing a daunting total of 181 at Taunton.
The experienced duo assessed the conditions on offer, weathering the early storm, before silencing the critics questioning their spots in the starting 11, en route to their record-breaking 4th wicket stand worth 137 runs, leaving the Indian bowlers in search of answers. The mammoth stand not only witnessed vintage hitting from the duo, auditioning to potentially seal their spots in the starting 11 for the upcoming 10th edition, but also almost sealed the deal for the home side.
Alice Capsey (82 off 43 balls) departed in the 18th over of the run chase, Arundhati Reddy providing that breakthrough for India. England eventually got over the line with 6 wickets in hand and 9 balls to spare to bag the T20I series by a 2-1 margin. Heather Knight stayed unbeaten on an impressive half-century (70* off 42 balls).
Arundhati Reddy (4-0-31-2) and Kranti Gaud (4-0-4-12) were the only wicket-takers with the ball for India. Alice Capsey was awarded the Player of the Match for her decisive knock (82 off 43 balls), which included 9 boundaries and 3 maximums. She was also awarded the Player of the Series for scoring 116 runs at a strike rate of 158.90 and an average of 38.66 in three innings, ending as the leading run-scorer for England and the 2nd highest run-scorer of the series.
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