The Indian Women have leveled the three-match T20 series against England. Last night, they defeated the home team by eight wickets at County Ground, Derby. Indian batter Smrithi Mandhana won the Player of the Match for her unbeaten 79 off 53 balls.
Match Report
Amy Jones, the T20 captain of England Women, won the toss and opted to bat first at the County Ground. So, England started their innings with Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt. But their starting was not good enough. Opener Sophia Dunkley lost her wicket in the 2nd over as Deepti Sharma picked up her wicket. Moreover, England lost another batter in the 3rd over. This time Danni Wyatt departed the pitch after scoring only 6 runs.
Indian bowler Sneh Rana then started destroying England’s batting lineup. She picked up two quick wickets, Bryony Smith and Amy Jones, in her two consecutive overs. But Maia Bouchier and Freya Kemp played a crucial role in the lower order. They made a brilliant partnership of 65 runs in the lower order. However, Maia Bouchier lost her wicket after scoring 34 runs, but Freya Kemp remained not out in 51 runs. Relying on their runs, England scored 142 runs in 20 overs.
Chasing the target, India Women had a flying start. Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana were very aggressive from the start of their innings. They added 55 runs together on the scoreboard in six overs. After that, Shefali Verma lost her wicket, scoring 20 runs.
After losing the wicket, Smriti Mandhana tried to build up another one with the new batter, Dayalan Hemalatha. But Dayalan Hemalatha couldn’t stay long on the pitch. She had to go back to the pavilion in the 9th over after scoring only nine runs.
But Smriti Mandhana was rock solid on the crease. He continued scoring runs for the team. Mandhana made another brilliant partnership with the skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur. They added 69 runs together on the scoreboard to chase the target. Moreover, both batters remained not out in this match. Harmanpree Kaur scored 29 runs, while Smriti Mandhana scored the highest 79 off 53 balls.
