India get consolation win as Smriti , bowlers step up , Eng W win T20I series by 2-1

 

  After losing the series with crushing defeats in the first and second matches of the T20I women series against England, Team India performed strongly in the last T20 match and ended the series with a win.  In the last match of the series at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India bowled out England for 126 runs due to the excellent bowling of young spinners Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque and pacer Renuka Singh  and then achieved the small but tricky target  by losing 4 wickets.

 While in the first match both the teams together had scored more than 350 runs, there was a famine of runs in the next two T20 matches.  The Indian team was bundled out for only 80 runs in the last match but England also had to struggle to reach here.  The situation remained the same in the third match but this time England batted first and Team India did not allow them to score big.  Like the last match, this time also the bowlers were successful in their work.

 

 Once again the start was made by medium pacer Renuka Singh (2/23).  By the third over itself, Renuka sent both the openers back to the pavilion . Bouchier (0) was bowled and Dunkley caught at point for 11.    By this time the score was only 24 runs.  England's batsmen failed to take advantage of the powerplay and scored only 2 runs in the next 2 overs.  Then in the sixth over, young spinner Saika Ishaque (3/22) gave the third blow by dismissing the dangerous Alice Capsey (7) .  From here, England captain Heather Knight (52) and wicketkeeper Amy Jones (25) took control of the innings and took it to 67 runs.

In the 12th over, Ishaque dismissed Jones and Daniel Gibson on consecutive balls.  In the very next over, Shreyanka (3/19) took 2 consecutive wickets.  England had lost 8 wickets for just 76 runs in the 15th over.  From here Captain Knight attacked and added 50 runs for the team in the next 5 overs.  She also got good support from Charlie Dean(16 no) .  Knight was out after scoring a superb  half-century.

 Team India also had a bad start and Shefali Verma (6)  got out cheaply for the second consecutive match , this time bowled by Freya Kemp.  However, this time Smriti Mandhana managed the team by staying at the crease.  She got good support from Jemimah Rodriguez (29).  There was a half-century partnership.  After Jemima's dismissal, Deepti Sharma supported Smriti for some time but her bad phase continued and she was out after scoring 12 runs , caught behind.

 Smriti Mandhana was moving towards her half-century and the team's victory but England's star spinner Sophie Ecclestone sent her to the pavilion on the score of 48.  Smriti scored 48 runs in 48 balls.  Richa Ghosh was also out immediately to Ecclestone  but young all-rounder Amanjot Kaur (13 not out) as soon as she came, hit 3 fours in 4 balls and gave the team victory by 5 wickets on the last ball of the 19th over.

For England  , Charlie Dean  took 1/18 in 4 tight overs . Ecclestone, who was not at her best  & Kemp took 2 wickets each .

Shreyanka Patil got the player of the match and Nat Sciver got the player of the series as England took the T20I series 2-1 .