Match 2 : T20I at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati : Danielle Wyatt, Katherine Brunt give England unbeatable lead in T20I series vs India

Toss – Won by England Women and elected to bowl first

1^st Innings Summary – Put into bat first, new comer Harleen Deol opened her team’s as well as her account with a four on the first ball of the match. On the other end, Smriti Mandhana hit first six of the match on the very first ball she faced and another one on the last ball of the same over, just to justify the kind of form she is in these days. But England struck early to send back dangerous Mandhana back to pavilion when Katherine Brunt got her caught out by Amy Jones in the very next over.

Youngster Jemimah Rodrigues, who was in good touch during last series against the White Ferns, is looking off colour against the English side as she was bowled out by Brunt in fifth over. A poor shot from a Harleen costed wicket number three for her team to fall as India had lost three quick wickets in three consecutive overs.

Skipper Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma then did the much-needed partnership of 35-runs before an unwanted run-out forced Sharma to walk back into the team’s dug out. There have been a hand full of past incidents too where Raj had been involved in run-outs and it is unfortunate that not enough work has been done to reduce these on-field communication gaps among the players. Mithali was next to depart and India was 84-5 at the end of 15 overs.

After that, Indians were not given any real chance to come back to the match with one wicket falling on every alternate over and the run-rate constantly going down. With sixteen runs scored in the last two overs (lost one wicket each in both overs), India managed to put up a target of 112 runs for the opponents.

2^nd Innings Summary – Defending a small total, Radha Yadav took the first wicket for her team as she bowled out Tammy Beaumont in fifth over. Poonam Yadav readily accepted the return catch by struggling Amy Jones and provided another breakthrough to India in eighth over. Spinner Ekta Bisht was next to strike as she sent back hitter Natalie Sciver on the last ball of ninth over. Indian bowling attack was clearly troubling English batters.

Two overs later, Bisht did another LBW out and this time Heather Knight became her victim. England was in desperate need of a good partnership and the 47-run fifth partnership between Danielle Wyatt and Lauren Winfield was the most vital one of the English team. During the partnership, Wyatt reached her half century in just 44 balls in 15^th over (a brilliant innings under pressure). These two almost took the match out of India’s reach just when Deepti Sharma revived the hopes by getting Winfield out in 18^th over.

Although Indian bowlers were able to drag the match to the last over but Wyatt hit the winning four on the first ball of 20^th over to give her team an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the three match T20 series.

Player of the match – Danielle Wyatt for an unbeaten 64-run inning off just 55 balls including six fours. Firstly, Wyatt stood tall on one end when wickets were falling on the other end and later did a fantastic partnership with Winfield to ensure the win for England.

Other Remarkable Performances –

1. England’s Katherine Brunt – 4-0-17-3
2. England’s Linsey Smith – 3-0-11-2
3. England’s Lauren Winfield – 29runs in 23 balls

Brief scorecard:

India Women – 111/8 (20 overs)

England Women – 114/5 (19.1 overs)

Result – England Women won by 5 wickets