Sophia Dunkley's 83-run knock went in vain as Deepti Sharma led India to a four-wicket win in the first ODI of the series with an unbeaten 62 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. India chased down the target of 259 with 10 balls to spare. This is India's second-highest successful ODI run chase.
India's previous highest successful run chase against England was 232 in 2022. In that game, Deepti was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets for 33 runs.
Goud, Rana strike twice
On July 16, England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt won the toss and opted to bat first. Kranti Groud struck twice with the new ball to dismiss openers Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones. Emma Lamb and Sciver-Brunt shared a 71-run partnership for the third wicket. Sneh Rana struck in consecutive overs to dismiss both set batters. Lamb scored 39 runs off 50 balls whereas the captain scored 41 runs from 52 balls.
Alice, Sophia's fifties take England to fighting total
After more than six overs without a boundary, Alice Davidson Richards and Dunkley tried to accelerate. Goud came back into the attack and almost got the breakthrough. She dropped the catch off her own bowling. In the next over, Jemimah Rodrigues dropped Dunkley's catch. In the 41st over, Dunkely reached her fifty from 58 balls on her birthday. In the 43rd over, Davidson Richards reached her fifty as well. Shree Charani broke the partnership in the 44th over by getting Davidson Richards stumped. She scored 53 runs from 72 balls. Dunkley scored boundaries in slog overs. Sophie Ecclestone contributed with an unbeaten 19-ball 23. Dunkely got bowled by Amanjot Kaur off the last ball of the innings. Her 92-ball 83 laced with nine fours took England to 258/6.
Starts wasted by India's top 4 batters
Smriti Mandhana got India off to a good start in the powerplay overs. Lauren Bell dismissed her in the eighth over after conceding two consecutive fours. The opener scored 28 runs from 24 balls. Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol took their time in the middle. Rawal could not convert it into a big score as she got bowled by Ecclestone for a 51-ball 36 in the 19th over. Deol became victim of a run out due to lack of game presence. She departed for a 44-ball 27 in the 22nd over. Under-pressure Harmanpreet could not continue either and got out lbw to Charlie Dean in an attempt to sweep.
Deepti and Rodrigues got the run chase back on track. In the 38th over, Deepti hit the first six of the innings. India completed 200 runs in 39 overs. Lauren Filer got the breakthrough with Rodrigues' wicket. She departed after scoring 48 runs from 54 balls, including five fours. Deepti struggled with a cramp but it did not stop her from getting to fifty from 52 balls. In her last over, Charlie got the big wicket of Richa Ghosh. The wicketkeeper-batter got stumped for a 12-ball 10 in the 45th over. Amanjot did not take much time to settle. In the penultimate over, she hit two boundaries off Kate Cross to take India over the line. She contributed with an unbeaten 14-ball 20. On the other end, Deepti remained not out for 62.
Impressive feat for Deepti
Deepti's 62 not out is the highest score by a no.6 or lower order batter for India in a run chase. The previous best belonged to Veda Krishnamurthy who scored 52 not out against West Indies in 2016.