England continued their dominance against India in T20Is as they beat Harmanpreet Kaur-led India in a high-scoring first game of the series at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 6. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danielle Wyatt's half-centuries followed by a clinical bowling display helped the visitors win by 38 runs as the hosts lacked firepower in the middle overs. However, it was India’s fielding that let them down and gave England batters second chances to post a massive total on the board.
Earlier, Harmanpreet won the toss and opted to bowl first. Renuka Singh struck early with the wicket wicket of Sophia Dunkley with the fourth ball. She followed it up with an unplayable delivery to get Alice Capsey out for a golden duck. Nat and Danielle Wyatt tried to rebuild the innings in the powerplay overs. They found a few boundaries during the fielding restrictions. England were 44/2 after powerplay overs. Nat and Danielle accelerated as England were 89/2 at the halfway stage.
Renuka returned to attack but could not make an impact. On debut, Shreyanka Patil dropped a catch off her bowling. Nat was batting on 45 then. Danielle hit her for a six in the same over to bring up her half-century from 34 balls. In the next over, Nat hit Saika Ishaque for a boundary to get to his half-century from 36 balls. The partnership was broken by Saika in the 16th over. Danielle got stumped. She scored 75 runs from 47 balls including eight fours and a couple of sixes.
In the 17th over, Nat hit Pooja Vastrakar for three consecutive boundaries. Pooja conceded 19 runs from her final over. Skipper Heather Knight became Shreyanka’s maiden T20I wicket in the 18th over. Renuka in her next over got the wicket of Nat as Jemimah Rodrigues took a brilliant catch on the boundary. She scored 77 runs from 53 balls featuring 13 fours. Amy Jones's 9-ball 23 cameo helped England post a challenging total of 197/6. Shreyanka dismissed her off the final ball but she ended up conceding 44 runs from her quota of four overs.
India's run chase got off to an ideal start. 17-year-old Mahika Gaur was hit for one boundary each by Shafali and Smriti Mandhana in the 12-run first over. After contributing with the bat, Nat got the prized wicket of Mandhana off the second ball of the third over. In the fifth over, Shafali took on Nat and hit her for three boundaries. Freya Kemp was introduced into the attack and she got the wicket of Rodrigues. Shafali and Harmanpreet hit one boundary each in the over as India were 53/2 after powerplay overs.
After two quiet overs, Harmanpreet decided to take on Freya. The skipper hit her for two fours and a six. At the halfway stage, India were 82/2. Sarah Glenn was causing a few problems. The pressure got the better of Harmanpreet who got bowled by Sophie Ecclestone. She scored 26 runs from 21 balls including three fours and a six. Richa Ghosh took on Sarah and hit her for a four and a six in the 12th over. Nat returned and increased the required run rate.
Sarah in her next over got the wicket of wicketkeeper-batter Richa who scored 21 runs from 16 balls. In the same over, Shafali completed her half-century from 37 balls. In her next over, Sophie got the wicket of Shafali. The opener scored 52 runs from 42 balls featuring nine fours. Kanika Ahuja tried to get close to the target but did not succeed. Sophie took the wicket of Kanika in the penultimate over. She scored 15 runs from 12 balls. Pooja and Deepti Sharma remained unbeaten as India posted 159/6 and lost the match by 38 runs.
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