• Home
  • Match Hub
  • India Choke As England Keep Their Nerve To Gather A 5 Run Victory In A Thriller

India Choke As England Keep Their Nerve To Gather A 5-Run Victory In A Thriller

Arnav Chopra

Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley and Sophie Ecclestone (Source: @englandcricket/X.com)Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley and Sophie Ecclestone (Source: @englandcricket/X.com)

In the third T20I of the five-match series, England Women gained an unlikely victory over the visiting Indian side at the Kennington Oval in London by just five runs. On the back of Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge's powerful show, England posted 171 on the board and came back strongly with the ball in the final overs to defend their score.

Here, we take a look at the highlights of the third T20I match between England Women and India Women, as it panned out at the Kennington Oval in London on Saturday, July 5.

Dunkley, Wyatt-Hodge's Opening Century Stand Powers England To 171

After winning the toss, the Indian side opted to bat first at the Kennington Oval, where the English openers Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge kept the Indian bowlers on their toes with their continuous, power-attacking show.

Dunkley reached her half-century quickly, while Danni also looked formidable with the bat. Both openers stitched an outstanding 137-run partnership for the first wicket when Dunkley was caught and bowled by Indian spinner Deepti Sharma for 75 off 53 deliveries, with seven boundaries and one maximum. However, after that, the incoming batter, Alice Capsey, couldn't do much and lost her wicket to Arundhati Reddy.

In the very next over, the set opening batter Wyatt-Hodge also lost her wicket to Reddy for 66 off 42 deliveries, with seven boundaries and three maximums. From being 137 for no loss, England suddenly lost wickets in quick succession and were reduced to 152/5 with 2.1 overs left. Later, they lost their sixth wicket on 162 and their ninth wicket on 168 as a batting collapse transpired due to a fine bowling effort from the Indian bowlers.

Arundhati and Deepti bowled exceedingly well, picking three wickets apiece, while Shree Charani registered two. In the end, they were able to manage 171 on the board for the loss of nine wickets at the end of the 20 overs.

Combined Bowling Effort Helps England Overcome India's Threat Despite Mandhana, Shafali Partnership

Chasing 172 for victory, India started positively with openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma pounding the English bowlers all over the park with their fluent hitting and aggressive batting. Mandhana went on to score 56 off 49 deliveries, and Shafali scored 47 off 25 deliveries as India were way ahead in the game after the halfway mark.

After the fall of Shafali, with India's score at 85 after the end of the ninth over, India lost their second wicket on 123 in the 14th over when Jemimah Rodrigues went back for 20. However, after that, it was just England's show, as they managed to keep India under pressure with their consistent bowling and variable change of pace. From being 123 for one, India then lost back-to-back wickets, with Mandhana departing in the 16th over.

While skipper Harmanpreet Kaur tried, it all proved in vain. The match looked largely in favour of Indian until the 17th over, when India had 142 on the board and required 30 more for victory in the last three overs. Nonetheless, the game then went down to the final over, when 12 were needed off six deliveries, and India failed to chase the score down as Lauren Bell bowled an excellent over, giving away just six runs in the final over, negotiating the Harmanpreet threat, as England claimed a nervy crucial victory by five runs to keep themselves alive in the five-match series after being 2-0 down before.

In the end, India could only manage 166 for the loss of five wickets, with openers Shafali (47) and Smriti (56) being the highest scorers for the side. From the bowling lineup, Lauren Filer picked up two wickets for 30 runs, whereas Sophie Ecclestone was economical, with just 24 runs in her four overs and a solitary wicket of Verma to her name.