India women’s team’s woes in limited-overs fixtures on this tour of England have continued after they suffered another defeat against the hosts in the first T20I of the three-match series in Northampton after rain played spoilsport.
Barring Shikha Pandey, none of the bowlers really got into the groove and were taken on by the English batters.
While the home side looked set to put up a huge total on the board, it was Pandey’s brilliant bowling and some magnificent fielding efforts from captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Harleen Deol and wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh that restricted England to a lesser total.
The right-arm bowler scalped three wickets in the penultimate over which included a couple of important scalps of Sciver and Jones who were looking dangerous at one stage.
Apart from this, skipper Kaur’s form with the bat on this tour is also a cause of concern for the team management.
On the other side, England are riding high on confidence especially after the way the hosts’ batting unit has fared in this last match. Sciver and Jones' brisk batting provided England with some crucial runs at a quick scoring rate.
While they have a balanced batting line up, England’s bowling attack is also looking in some good form. They picked up wickets at crucial junctures and didn’t allow the Indian batters to take an upper hand.
Match Details
Match: ENGW vs INDW, 2nd T20I, India Women tour of England, 2021
Date: Sunday, July 11, 2021
Time: 7:00 PM
Venue: County Ground, Hove
Pitch Report
The only international fixture that took place back in 1999 World Cup between India and South Africa saw some decent amount of runs being scored from both ends.
Both the teams went past the 250-run mark while South Africa eventually won the match after chasing down 254 runs in 47.4 overs.
The track seems to have something on offer to both the batters and the bowlers while the runs scored in the middle overs can play a vital role in deciding the result. So, if you win the toss, bowl first.
Team News
India: The Indian team is presently facing quite few problems within the line up. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s run drought on this tour and the way the bowlers gave away runs in the last encounter is surely a cause of concern for the team management.
But there are a couple of positives as well for the visitors. The Indian bowling attack especially Shikha Pandey negotiated the England batters well in the death overs and didn’t let them post a huge total while the fielding was exceptional as far as the last game is concerned.
India would try to get back on track and level the series in the second match as a defeat in this one would cost them another series on the tour.
England: The home side at the moment is looking pretty balanced and stable. The batters have been chipping in with some valuable runs while the bowlers too have been dominant. England for now just need to stick to the basics.
Probable XI
England Women: Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont, Danielle Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Fran Wilson, Natalie Sciver, Heather Knight, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Glenn
India Women: Richa Ghosh, Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Harmanpreet Kaur, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, Pooja Vastrakar
Fantasy XI
Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma (VC), Heather Knight, Natalie Sciver (C), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Anya Shrubsole, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav