Despite series loss against England, Harmanpreet Kaur beats Suzie Bates to break all-time women's cricket record

India lost the third T20I against England on Tuesday, June 2 at the County Ground in Taunton. The Indian team failed to defend 181 runs against the Charlie Dean-led side in the second innings, as the host emerged victorious by six wickets with nine balls to spare.

Epic milestone for Harmanpreet Kaur in Women's cricket

Despite the loss, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur managed to reach a historic milestone. The third T20I game against the English side was Harmanpreet's 368th game. With this, she went past New Zealand's Suzie Bates to become the player with most appearances in Women's cricket.

Most appearances in women's international cricket

The Indian skipper kicked off her International career at the 2009 Women's World Cup, making her debut against Pakistan in Bowral. Later that year, she got her maiden T20I cap in June, before going on to make her Test debut in 2014.

Also Read: 'I have grown up watching them...': Harsh Dubey makes heartfelt Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma admission after maiden India call-up

In ODIs, Harmanpreet managed to score 4541 runs at an average of 37.2 with a strike rate of 76.9. The right-handed batter recorded seven centuries and 24 half-centuries. Meanwhile In T20Is, Harmanpreet has amassed 4075 runs at an average of 30.2 with a strike rate of 110.29. Harman has played only seven Test games so far in her career, where she amassed 230 runs in 11 innings at an average of 23.0 with a strike rate of 57.1 supported by one half-century.

Underwhelming bowling performance from India 

Winning the toss, England opted to bowl first. India's opening duo of Smirti Mandhana and Shafali Verma failed to give a strong start, as both got out on just 8 of 9 balls and 11 off 6 balls respectively. However, Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues controlled the innings with their quick-fire cameos. The left-handed batter smashed a quick-fire knock of 32 off 18 before getting run out by Sophie Ecclestone. Meanwhile, Jemimah was looking good before she lost her wicket to Lauren Bell after scoring 29 off 19 balls.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur scored a rusty unbeaten 56 runs off 40 balls, hitting seven boundaries at a strike rate of 140.00. On the other hand, all-rounder Deepti Sharma played a solid knock of 32 off 24 balls, which led India post 180/5 at the end of the first innings.

In reply, England endured a similar start to India, as they suffered a top-order collapse. However, Alice Capsey and Heather Knight played astonishing knocks to seal the game for England. Alice was removed by Arundhati Reddy after scoring 82 off 43 with the help of nine boundaries and three sixes at a strike rate of 190.70.

Meanwhile, Heather Knighed remained unbeaten with 70 off 42 balls with the help of 10 fours. The duo helped England win the game by six wickets.