India 130 for 5 (Mandhana 48, Rodrigues 29, Kemp 2-24) won England 126 (Knight 52, Patil 3-19, Ishaque 3-22) by five wickets
India’s new spin pair of Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque and an improved batting performance saw them to a consolation win in the third and final T20I against England at the Wankhede Stadium.
Things that went wrong as India fell to a 2-0 series deficit came together as Renuka Singh finally found support with the ball and, despite Shafali Verma’s second failure in as many matches after a half-century in her first series, India he put together a key partnership with Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues adding 57 which helped to achieve a modest target. With captain Harmanpreet Kaur delaying her entry after appearing to twist her leg while fielding – she came in at No.5 – she completed the rest of the chase with Amanjot Kaur to seal victory with an over to spare.
Patil and Ishaque relied on early fines from Renuka to tear through England’s middle order as the visitors lost five wickets for nine runs in the space of 21 balls, going from 67 for 3 to 76 for 8 before Heather Knight salvaged something from half a century. period. Knight, the England captain, provided her side’s only resistance, hitting the ground as the majority of her compatriots perished sweeping or cutting. Twin sixes in three Amanjot deliveries took Knight’s fifty in the final over of the innings before she let go off the penultimate ball, with Mahika Gaur giving Amanjot two wickets in as many balls when she was caught by Deepti Sharma at cover. run with England out for 126.
With India needing 11 runs from the last two overs, Sophie Ecclestone bowled Richa Ghosh trying to paddle and put pressure on India, but Amanjot, who replaced Pooja Vastrakar in the side, punched through the covers for four next ball to ease the tension and another four leveled the scores before her reverse sweep took her to 13 not out in just four balls and India to victory.
Newcomers shine for India
Patil and Ishaque, who both made their T20I debuts in the first match of this series, were instrumental in England’s collapse. Patil, the 21-year-old offspinner, kept to deep mid-off to remove Amy Jones for 25 off 21 and give Ishaque her second wicket, sparking the rot for England. Left-arm spinner Ishaque, a revelation as the third-highest wicket-taker of the WPL opener, had already taken Alice Capsey off Rodrigues at extra cover and then bowled Danielle Gibson for a duck that was trying to cut.
Bess Heath, making her T20I debut as England batted in the innings, fared little better, gifting Patil her first with an attempted reverse sweep that found Amanjot at short third. Patil then had Kemp lbw and Ecclestone bowled, at cut and sweep respectively. Both India spinners overcame nervous debuts, Patil taking 2 for 44 from her four overs in the first match, while Ishak took 1 for 38 and bolstered India’s faith in a rejuvenated side.
Renuka reprises the powerplay role
Just as she had in the first two matches, Renuka struck early, removing both of England’s openers in the first three overs. On this occasion, with Danni Wyatt, who scored 75 in the opening match, making way for Maia Bouchier in this dead rubber, Renuka struck with the third ball of the match, a slightly fuller one that drove back a bit and punctured Bouchier’s trial. , bowling her through the gate.
Renuka also bowled a strange Sophia Dunkley for the third time in as many matches, throwing her hands to a ball outside the off stump that was there to be hit, but could not clear Patil at backward point. Dunkley’s score of 11 was the highest of the series and came amid a bit of a run dating back to the Ashes in the middle of this year, where she managed just one half-century – in the first T20I – and has scored just one since – in the WBBL last month. Unlike the first two games, however, Renuka’s good work received ample support in the form of Patil and Ishaque.
Mandhana, Rodrigues step up
Scores of 159 for 6 chasing 198, where Shafali had no support from her teammates, and a total of 80 raised worrying questions about India’s batting ahead of this match. But Mandana and Rodriguez stepped in when needed. Mandhana’s run-a-ball 48 included two glorious sixes over deep mid-wicket and long-off, and five fours, while Rodriguez was particularly effective in the scoop en route to 29 off 33.
Offspinner Charlie Dean had broken their base with a full ball that hit Rodrigues on the back thigh as he knelt down to sweep, her appeal for DRS unable to save her as ball tracking showed the ball on target. Soon after, Mandana also fell, agonizingly short of his half-century, when he calmly drove to Dunkley from Ecclestone. But India’s duo had put their side together and managed to answer those questions, while Amanjot’s cameo at the end gave her more encouragement.
England, meanwhile, lost Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was rested from the match but was still named Player of the Series for her 93 runs and two wickets, her 77 in a 138-run stand with Wyatt in the first game to stand out. Sarah Glenn, who is not part of England’s squad for the Test starting on Thursday, missed the match with a fractured thumb picked up in the second T20I.