India's preparations for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup faced a huge setback, as they lost by five runs while chasing 172 runs in their second and final warm-up match on Wednesday, June 10 at the Sophie Gardens in Cardiff. Notably, India are coming to the tournament after losing three-game T20I series against the same opponent.
Big loss for India
Winning the toss, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur opted to bowl first against the English side. However, the decision proved to be costly. England's star opener Amy Jones opened the innings on a strong note, as she managed to score 64 off 45, hitting eight boundaries at a strike rate of 142.22. However, Jones could not find support from her opening partner Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who got dismissed on a cheap score of 3 off 6 balls.
Coming to bat at No.3 England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt, smashed a rusty half century, playing a lot of dot balls which slowed their innings. She got dismissed on 57 runs off 45 balls, smashing eight boundaries. Towards the end, Danielle Gibson finished the innings with a quick fire knock of 30 runs off just 12 deliveries. England finished the first inning on a decent note, as they managed to post 171-6.
Richa Ghosh's stunning knock goes in vain
In response, India endured a disappointing batting performance, as the opening duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma lost their wickets on cheap scores of 1 and 13 respectively. First down batter Yastika Bhatia also could not contribute much, as she scored only 15 runs off 17 balls. After Harmanpreet Kaur and Bharti Fulmali's dismissal, star wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh took over the innings with an innings filled with absolute carnage. The right-handed batter smashed 68 runs off just 36 balls, which led India to reach closer towards the win.
However Richa was removed by Linsey Smith in the last over. After Richa's wicket the game was over for India, as they lost the match by five runs. But Ghosh's batting would be the biggest positive for the Indian team before entering the league games of the tournament.