The Indian women’s cricket team suffered a 38-run defeat in the first of the three-match T20 series against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
England registered a massive 197/6 in their 20 overs batting first before restricting India to 159/6.
Indian T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur decided to bowl first after winning the toss. Her decision was validated by Renuka Singh (3/27) who delivered two blows in the first over.
Renuka Singh castled Sophia Dunkley (1) on the fourth ball before cleaning up Alice Capsey for a duck on the very next ball. Danni Wyatt (75 off 47) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (77 off 53) rescued the visitors with a 138-run partnership for the third wicket which was broken by debutant spinner Saika Ishaque (1/38) in the 16th over.
Shreyanka Patil (1/44), India’s second debutant of the night, scalped the big wicket of England captain Heather Knight (6 off 7) in the 18th over but was taken to the cleaners in the 20th over by Amy Jones (23 off 9), who provided England with the final flourish by scoring 16 runs in the last over.
Shafali Verma’s explosive start paved the way for India’s strong response early on. Despite losing Smriti Mandhana (6) at the other end in the third over, Shafali Verma (52 off 42) continued to battle on, driving India to a total of 53/2 by the end of the powerplay.
Jemimah Rodrigues (4) departed cheaply but Harmanpreet Kaur (26 off 21) and Shafali Verma helped India stay in the hunt with a 41-run partnership. With India needing 116 runs from the final 10 overs, Kaur departed in the 11th over while trying to up the scoring rate.
Richa Ghosh (21 off 16) played a handy knock in the 42-run stand for the fourth wicket. However, the required rate crept up to over 15 runs per over after her dismissal in the 15th over. Shafali Verma, too, ran out of steam and lost her wicket in the 17th over. India, the Asian Games champions, eventually ended up 38 runs short of England’s total.
Sophie Ecclestone, who was also coming off after a long injury layoff, stood out among the English bowlers with figures of 3/15 from her four overs.
The second India vs England women’s T20 cricket match will be played at the same venue on Saturday.
