India vs England women’s T20 World Cup: IND-W lose to ENG-W by 11 runs; Renuka Singh’s fifer in vain

Renuka
Singh
registered
her
best
bowling
figures
(5/15)
to
help
India
restrict
England
to
151
for
seven
after
Harmanpreet
Kaur
opted
to
bowl.

Renuka
did
the
early
damage,
picking
up
the
first
three
wickets
to
peg
England
back
and
then
returned
to
take
two
more
towards
the
fag
end
of
the
innings.

India
vs
England
Women’s
T20
World
Cup:
Smriti
Mandhana
scores
41-ball
52

In
the
chase,
vice-captain
Smriti
Mandhana
led
the
charge
with
a
41-ball
52,
which
was
studded
with
seven
boundaries
and
a
six,
while
Richa
Ghosh
remained
unbeaten
on
47
off
34
balls
as
India
fell
short
by
11
runs,
managing
140
for
5
in
their
20
overs.

India
did
not
have
the
best
of
starts,
losing
Shafali
Verma
in
the
fourth
over.
Jemimah
Rodrigues
and
Harmanpreet
too
departed
in
quick
succession
as
India
slumped
to
62
for
3
in
10.2
overs.

But
Mandhana
and
Ghosh
shared
a
43-run
fourth-wicket
stand
to
keep
India
in
the
hunt.

But
England
skipper
Heather
Knight
made
some
brilliant
bowling
changes
towards
the
end
to
stifle
India’s
run
flow.

Needing
34
runs
off
the
final
two
overs,
Sophie
Ecclestone
bowled
a
brilliant
penultimate
over,
giving
away
just
three
runs,
and
also
accounted
for
the
wicket
of
Deepti
Sharma.

In
the
final
over,
the
asking
became
too
steep,
but
Ghosh
found
the
boundary
twice
and
also
hit
a
six
off
Katherine
Sciver-Brunt,
but
it
was
not
enough.

With
India
needing
59
off
30
balls,
Mandhana
tried
to
up
the
ante
and
stepped
out
to
hit
Sarah
Glenn
for
a
maximum
to
bring
up
a
well-deserved
half-century.

But
the
bowler
had
the
last
laugh
as
Mandhana
departed
in
search
of
one
too
many,
caught
by
Katherine
Sciver
in
the
very
next
ball.

Earlier,
India
made
a
perfect
start
after
opting
to
bowl
as
Renuka
induced
a
faint
outside
edge
from
Danni
Wyatt
and
Richha
Ghosh
gleefully
accepted
the
chance
in
the
third
delivery
of
the
day.

Renuka
was
on
fire
as
she
accounted
for
two
more
English
batters
in
her
next
two
overs
to
hand
India
the
upper
hand
after
Harmanpreet
won
the
toss
and
elected
to
bowl.

Renuka
first
cleaned
up
Alice
Capsey
in
the
third
over
and
then
came
back
to
disturb
the
woodwork
of
Sophie
Dunkley
in
her
next
over
as
England
slumped
to
29
for
3
in
4.4
overs.

Thereafter,
Nat
Sciver-Brunt
and
skipper
Heather
Knight
(28)
took
the
attack
to
the
opposition
and
played
aggressively.

The
duo
shared
a
51-run
standoff
just
38
balls
to
give
some
impetus
to
England’s
innings.

But
just
when
the
partnership
was
looking
threatening,
Shikha
Pandey
broke
the
stand,
picking
up
her
first
wicket
since
October
2021.

It
was
a
lucky
breakthrough
for
Pandey
as
Knight
picked
out
Shafali
Verma
in
the
covers
—
the
only
fielder
inside
the
circle
—
from
a
juicy
full
toss
outside
off.

Nat
Sciver
did
all
the
hard
work
en
route
her
42-ball
50
but
gave
away
her
wicket
when
England
needed
her
the
most,
caught
by
Smriti
Mandhana
at
short
third
man
off
Deepti
Sharma’s
bowling
as
the
batter
went
for
a
reverse
sweep,
only
to
miscue
it.

In
the
final
over
of
England’s
innings,
Renuka
accounted
for
Amy
Jones
(40
off
27)
and
Katherine
Sciver-Brunt
to
record
her
best
T20I
bowling
figures.

England
are
through
to
the
semi-finals,
while
India
will
play
Ireland
next
on
February
20.

With
inputs
from
PTI