After a disappointing outing in the series opener against England, India strongly bounced back in the 2nd T20I and were in the driving seat straightaway having put England in early trouble. A good English comeback had their side post a below-par total that Indian in an aggressive reply got to the required quite comfortably and remain alive in the series having leveled the 3-match series 1-1.
1st innings: England – 142/6 (20)
England lost openers Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt departed early on scores of 5(5) and 6(5) respectively. It wasn’t long before Alice Capsey found herself stranded mid-pitch on 4(6) in the same 3rd over which saw Danni Wyatt’s dismissal. Bryony Smith’s timely stitch alongside skipper Amy Jones got England ticking but soon came to an end with the wicket of Bryony on 16(15). Maia Bouchier got underway with a boundary but on the other end Amy Jones departed on 17(20) and England were 5 down for 54 on board. Freya Kemp walked in and got underway with a boundary and England at halfway stage were 60-5. The pair of Kemp and Bouchier turned out to be a fruitful one for England and the period of counterattack from the two got England back on track, but when India tightened their lines and the pressure after a few quiet overs grew, Bouchier departed on 34(26) with Sneh Rana creating the breakthrough ending the 65-run partnership. A maximum followed with a boundary off Freya Kemp’s bat got her to celebrate her maiden 50* in international cricket that’d come off 36 balls and a boundary of Sophie Ecclestone’s bat got England to finish on 142-6 in their 20 overs.
India’s best on the show was Sneh Rana who bagged the wickets of Bryony Smith, Maia Bouchier and Amy Jones and finished her 4 overs with an economy of 6. Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh Thakur too bagged a wicket each and bowled with economy rates of 5.2 and 7.5 respectively. Radha Yadav (9) and Pooja Vastrakar (7.8) remained wicketless for India and finished with economies on the expensive side.
2nd innings: India – 146/2 (16.4)
India in reply got opener Smriti Mandhana hand the team a flyer of a start and Shafali Verma on the other end did well to rotate the strike and hit the odd boundary as well. The pair put on a 55-run opening stand that come to an end with Sophie Ecclestone striking the wicket of Shafali Verma on 20(17) and India closed their powerplay on a score of 55-1. Hemalatha’s brief stay came to a close on 9(10) as she had her shattered by a Freya Davies special. Harmanpreet Kaur straightaway got going brilliantly with boundaries and a set Smriti Mandhana on the other end got to her 50* off 36 balls. Smriti then shifted gears and in no time from 50*(36) finished on 79*(53) and Harmanpreet Kaur remained unbeaten on 29(22) as India registered the win in 16.4 overs and with 8 wickets in hand.
🇮🇳India beat England by 8 Wickets
Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur led a successful chase to level the series 1-1#ENGvIND #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/NUpOm38pVJ
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 13, 2022
England had Lauren Bell go wicketless, but finished with best figures off 4-0-23-0 in a game where Freya Kemp finished conceded 19 runs off her 1 over, Bryony Smith conceded 11 off her 1 over, Sarah Glenn conceded 28 off her 3 overs and Alice Capsey conceded 13 off her 1. Wicket-takers, Sophie Ecclestone and Freya Davies finished with economy rates of 7.3 and 8.2 respectively.
Smriti Mandhana with her Player of the Match trophy 🔥💙#ENGvIND #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/Lc94msf50e
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 13, 2022
A clinical outing this time around from India on all 3 fronts, with the bat, ball and on the field has them win a must-win and stay alive in the 3-match T20I series and will look to carry the same momentum ahead in the final T20I. Whereas, England will re-look at invest skill in their batting order but will wish it clicks in the series decider when sides will take the field at Bristol.
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