Stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana’s stunning maiden T20I century saw India pick up a massive win in the opening game of their five-game series against England.
The Women in Blue drew first blood with a 97-run win in Nottingham. Now, the hosts have their backs against the wall ahead of the second T20I, for which here are our match preview and predictions.
Playing without captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who suffered a head injury ahead of the game, stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana led from the front with a stellar batting display.
Alongside Mandhana, the returning Shafali Verma gave India a strong platform with a 77-run opening partnership. Mandhana and Harleen Deol built on that, with the latter’s quickfire 43 ensuring a 200+ score was reached. Despite a blowout from the lower order, Mandhana pulled India to 210 with a century of her own, marking the team’s highest T20I score away from home.
India’s bowling attack saw Deepti Sharma strike twice in the Powerplay. Alongside her, Amanjot Kaur had the hosts reeling, before debutant Shree Charani spun a web around the English batters and picked up 4/12, bundling them out for 113 and handing them their heaviest T20I defeat.
While the English batting performance didn’t have much to talk about, captain Nat Sciver-Brunt stood tall with a fighting 66 to make sure the hosts crossed the 100-run mark. Sciver-Brunt will expect more from her experienced batting unit going forward. Barring her, only Tammy Beaumont and Emily Arlott reached double figures, as England found no answers to the Indian spin trio.
England’s bowling and fielding weren’t much better either. They had a couple of sloppy moments at the start of the innings, which gave India early momentum. Lauren Bell was the standout bowler with 3/27, but the others took some stick — especially the experienced Sophie Ecclestone on her return.
Moving to Bristol, the County Ground should also prove to be a good batting track, albeit with plenty of assistance for the slower bowlers. Given their current form and momentum from the opening game, we back the visitors as favourites for the win here, though England should come hard at them in what is expected to be a much more even contest.
Fantasy XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Tammy Beaumont, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Emily Arlott, Shree Charani, Arundhati Reddy, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Bell
Venue: County Ground, Bristol
Winners Prediction: India
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