• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Eng W Vs Ind W 1st T20i With Momentum By Their Side Indian Eves Aim To Level All Format Series

ENG W vs IND W | 1st T20I: With momentum by their side, Indian eves aim to level all-format series

The Indian eves managed to snatch a narrow victory in the last ODI of the three-match series. With that, they also achieved two crucial points and got to four points, two behind hosts England who were at six points at the end of the ODIs. 

Part of an all-format series between the two sides, the three T20Is have six points up for grabs and if India Women manage to win the series 2-1, they will level with the English side at right points each and if they are able to clean sweep, they can even win the series comprising of a Test, three ODIs and three T20Is. The Test had four points up for grabs which were shared by the two teams while the white-ball formats had two points for each game. 

But for India to either level or win the series, they would have to play out of their skins. The main reason for this statement is the absence of Mithali Raj, India's skipper and the leading run-scorer for the Women in Blue during the ODI series. Apart from her, no other batter was able to get a hang of English bowling. 

The T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on the other hand has had a horrible tour so far, unable to get in the mix either with the bat or ball in hand. However, vastly experienced Kaur knows that she is just an innings away from getting back into form. Acknowledging that she promised in a pre-match virtual press conference that a different approach from her would be on display during T20Is. 

The team would also look to utilise the form of Sneh Rana with both bat and ball. In fact, Harmanpreet indicated that Rana alongside young Richa Ghosh would work as finishers for the team late in the batting order. 

When it comes to England Women, they gave got in-form Danni Wyatt back in the squad alongside spinner Mady Villiers to go with horses for course approach as they removed Kate Cross and Lauren Winfield-Hill respectively. 

With all to play for, the two teams would look to use this opportunity to battle it out as well as to try and test their squad in similar conditions before the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where T20I has been included for the first time. 

England Women vs India Women: Match Details

Match No.- 1st T20I

Date and Time: July 09, 2021, 11:00 pm IST, 05:30 pm GMT and 06:30 pm Local

Venue: County Ground, Northampton

Broadcast and Livestream in India: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV

Pitch Report

The pitch in Northampton usually favours the batters and is one of the high scoring grounds. However, in six T20Is, all the matches have been won by teams batting first, suggesting that there will be something for the spinners later in the second innings. 

Weather Forecast and Toss

While there are 25-30% chances of rain, the ground would mostly be covered by clouds hovering above and making the temperature a bit chilly. Although it's a batting track, risking rain and hence the Duckworth Lewis system wouldn't be a wise choice. Hence field first might be the preferred option. 

Team News

England Women

The English Women would be forced to make at least two changes from the team that played the last ODI as both Cross and Winfield-Hill are not in the squad. 

Wyatt and Villiers thus would naturally fit into the squad. However with Sarah Glenn being there already, Villiers might have to make way for Tash Ferrant, or England could be brave enough and play three front line spinners. 

The one choice that skipper Heather Knight would be making involved experienced Anya Shrubsole and emerging quick Freya Davies. While Davies has been in good nick, Shrubsole hasn't looked her lethal best so far. Sophia Dunkley would once again fancy her chances to let loose as soon as possible. 

Probable XI

Tammy Beaumont, Danielle Wyatt, Heather Knight(c), Natalie Sciver, Amy Ellen Jones(wk), Sophia Dunkley, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Natasha Farrant/Mady Villiers, Freya Davies 

India

For India, it would involve plenty of changes with Harleen Deol, Simran Dil Bahadur, Radha Yadav and Ghosh making it to the team and Mithali, Jhulan Goswami and Taniya Bhatia walking out.

Indrani Roy might be ignored once again as the team is looking to play Ghosh as a wicketkeeper-batter. 

Probable XI

Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues/ Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Simran Bahadur 

Dream XI / Fantasy XI team

Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Natalie Sciver (vc), Amy Ellen Jones(wk), Sophia Dunkley, Sneh Rana, Sophie Ecclestone, Poonam Yadav, Freya Davies  

Discover more

Top Stories
news

It's selector's call to not send any openers to England says Sourav Ganguly

BCCI President and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly have finally given his opinion about the controversy surrounding the selector’s decision to decline the request made by Kohli and Ravi Shastri to send Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal to England as a replacement of the injured Sbubman Gill who has been forced to return home. Ganguly said that it was a matter of the selection panel to decide what they feel good for the team. It was learnt that the Indian team management via administrative manager Girish Dongre requested for a couple of openers as replacements preferring Shaw and Padikkal. However the chairman of selectors, Chetan Sharma hadn’t replied to the mail. It is believed that the selectors want Abhimanyu Easwaran who is a part of the extended squad to be included in the main team. With already four opening options available, the selection panel didn’t feel necessary to send either Prithvi Shaw or Devdutt Padikkal who are currently in Sri Lanka preparing for six white-ball matches. Speaking on the same Ganguly said, "That is the selectors' call.” Speaking on conducting tournaments amidst the pandemic the former Indian skipper said, "Nothing can be done with this Covid-19 situation, so it is closed doors only. Cricket is obviously started, India is in England, then we will have IPL and then there is T20 World Cup. Cricket won't stop and it will go on." "These are exceptional circumstances. Last year World Cup got cancelled. This year if again it gets cancelled because of Covid, then it is a massive loss for the game. That is why it is being taken to a safer place," he added.

news

ENG vs PAK: Mahmood, Malan and Crawley shine as second string England blanks Pakistan

It was a shambolic display of batting and bowling by Pakistan but a terrific one by their opponent England, who were playing with a second-string team after the entire first-team squad had to be replaced due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the camp. The second string though turned out to be more than enough for Babar Azam's men who were blanked by nine wickets in the series opener, much to the disbelief of their fans. It wasn't just the batting that flopped for Pakistan, the bowlers turned out to be equally ineffective. Chasing a lowly total of 142, England lost Phil Salt early as he was removed for seven by Shaheen Afridi. However, that remained the only wicket that England would lose in their entire chase as debutant Zak Crawley and experienced Malan saw England home, without even the slightest bit to bother about. The duo chased down the total in only 22 overs and ended a miserable day for the visitors, who disturbed the woodwork just once when a Hasan Ali Yorker was too hot to handle for Crawley. Unfortunately, though it came off a free hit. While Crawley remained unbeaten on 58, Malan, the number one T20I batter scored 69 balls 68. Earlier in the day, Pakistan got off to the worst possible start after being asked to bat first by Ben Stokes at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. After losing Imam ul Haq and Babar Azam in the very first over of the innings, Pakistan could never recover, eventually getting all out for 141 in the 36th over. Fakhar Zaman was the highest run-scorer for the Men in Green with his 67 balls 47. Saqib Mahmood who bamboozled the Pak batting order with his four-wicket haul (4-42) was rightfully awarded Man of the Match. Stokes, the English skipper was might pleased by his team's efforts. "Any game where you get the opposition out so early, you're always ahead of the game," Stokes said in the post-match interview. "I just told the boys to do what they've been doing all summer for their counties. Don't change anything," added the winning captain. For Babar, though it was a day to forget, both as a batter and captain. As he said in the post-match interview, he could do nothing else but look forward to the next game. The second ODI would take place at Lord's on July 10.

news

ENG vs PAK: Pakistan fold for a disappointing 141 as Saqib Mahmood bags four-wicket haul

Pakistan did what they are known for, throwing up surprises in the most uncanny of ways. A batting lineup having the number one ODI batter in Babar Azam, the battery with most runs in T20s this year, Mohammad Rizwan failed to even make a mark in Cardiff as the whole team folded for a disappointing 141. Fakhar Zaman was the highest scorer with 47 from 67 balls, but he dealt his team a heavy blow by running out Sohaib Maqsood. Maqsood, who was making his international comeback after five years, looked good for his short stay at the crease (19 runs). Apart from these two, Shadab Khan was the only one that seemed to have got the hang of the Sophia Gardens wicket which was slow and had double bounce. Saqib Mahmood, the only English pacer in the squad with some experience of playing against all these Pakistan batters in the PSL first leg, ripped through the top order of the visitors. He got Imam ul Haq on the very first ball while Babar Azam nicked an unplayable delivery to give Mahmood his second scalp in the very first over of the innings. Among the other two wickets of the 24-year-old Lancashire bowler were debutant Saud Shakeel and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf. Along with Mahmood, Craig Overton and Matthew Parkinson picked two wickets while Lewis Gregory got the solitary wicket of Rizwan. With only 141 to defend, the Pakistan bowlers have their task cut out. Even a greatly inexperienced England team would fancy itself to get the work done as soon as possible.