Quick guide:
India v England : 3rd T20I
A lot was at stake when we went into the very last match of the multi-format series between England and India. India, being behind in the race with six points to England’s eight, they had to win this match in order to draw the series. The hosts on the other hand, wanted to win the series that they so clearly dominated. After some fantastic performance from both the sides, England, the better team in the match, won comfortably and took home the trophy for the first-of-its-kind series.
Also read : A game of pressure, persistence and breakthroughs – 2nd T20I
Match Summary
India won the toss and selected to bat first in the 3rd and final T20 of the multi-format series.
The opening pair of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana went out to open the innings. It was the final phase of the Shafali Verma- Katherine Brunt battle. A battle we have seen since the one-off test match. In the 2nd T20I, Shafali clearly finished ahead with her stunning five boundaries off Brunt’s over. But this time it was the senior’s day. Just in the second ball of Verma’s innings, she got an inside edge into the stumps. The veteran pacer didn’t hesitate to give the youngster an aggressive send off.
Harleen Deol was the new batter in at number three. Both Mandhana and Deol played the next two overs cautiously as India managed only nine runs in the first three overs. In the fourth over of the match, the world number one bowler Sophie Ecclestone got the best of her as Deol was caught at the mid-wicket just after hitting her for a boundary.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur was the next batter in for India after the early wickets. There was a non-stop discussion over the past few days, whether she was back in form after her useful knock in the second T20 or was it just a one time innings. On the other hand, Harman showed no lack of confidence. She started playing her natural shots. Slowly and steadily the Captain and the Vice-captain started building the innings.
The boundaries started coming at the 10th over. Harman scooped Mady Villiers for a six over long on. Mandhana followed by hitting Freya Davies for a six in the very next over. India managed 14 runs in the 12th over, their highest since the beginning, as Kaur hit Sarah Glenn for three boundaries in the over. But, just when it started to look good for India, it came to a sudden halt, as Kaur departed in the very first ball of the next over.
But there was no stopping for Mandhana. As Sneh Rana joined her in the middle, she kept on playing some beautifully timed and gorgeous shots all over the ground. The elegant left hander put on a show for India as she spared no bowlers in her innings of 70 runs in 51 balls, before finally falling to Brunt. It was a superb catch taken by Nat Sciver and in her time on the field, she had already hit 8 fours and 2 sixes and had taken India to a comfortable score 118/4 in 16 overs.
After Mandhana and Rana (4) departed, it was showtime for another youngster Richa Ghosh. She attacked the very next ball after Mandhana got out, and hit two back-to-back boundaries to Brunt. Ghosh’s stroke filled cameo came to an end in the 20th over and India finished at 153/6 in their 20 overs.
In response, England openers Tammy Beaumont and Danielle Wyatt started comfortably. Some shaky show on the field by Shafali Verma had given a lifeline to Beaumont already by the 2nd over. Although that didn’t do much damage as the English opener departed in the fourth over of the innings, after scoring 11 runs from 15 balls.
But there was no stopping for Danni Wyatt. Nothing seemed to trouble her as she kept on cruising and striking boundary after boundary in every over. Nat Sciver, who came to bat at three, also didn’t seem to be bothered by anything. By the end of 15 overs, England were already at 125/1 with only 29 runs to win in 30 balls.
And even though Rana got the much-awaited wicket of Sciver in the 17th over, it didn’t do any damage to England’s one-sided run chase. She had already played her part and scored a useful 42 of 36 balls. Wyatt and captain Heather Knight completed the chase comfortably in 18.4 overs.
Danni Wyatt, after being dropped from the team for the Test and ODI series came back in the squad for the T20 series. Riding on a great domestic season, it’s quite obvious that there were a lot to prove for her. It won’t be an exaggeration to say, she has answered all the questions that was raised on her form, with her scintillating innings of 89* runs in just 56 balls. With envious records against India, Danni not only looked fabulous in touch, but she also dominated each and every bowler from this Indian side. Nothing seemed to trouble her in her innings of 12 boundaries and one over boundary.
Watch the highlights:
India lacked a lot in all three departments throughout the series. Although they gave a fight to this English side in all the formats, the Indian management will look forward to fixing the pain areas before the upcoming series with Australia in September.
As we come to the end of a marvelous series, we can surely say, there were a lot of beautiful moments and positive takeaways from both the sides. It had been an entertaining and competitive one month. Here is hoping that the multi-format series will be a permanent thing in the future for these two sides and next time it will have a proper name to go by too just like the “Ashes”!!
Key Take-aways
- Consistency comes with practice.
- In the process of learning and doing better, failures are not a setback but more of a reminder of how far you have come and what areas still need to be worked on.
- One day you may win and the other you may lose. If you win, you celebrate and keep practicing over the things that worked in your favor and if you lose, you identify the weak areas and work towards bettering it. The learning never stops.
~Poulami Das (Stats Analyst, Beyond the Matches), Urvi Shah (Author, Beyond the matches)
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