England angled a final-ball thriller to end their T20 series against India on a high, and drew a woman’s record run in Edgbaston of 168 to win the fifth international with five wickets.
Danni Wyatt -Hodge (56 out of 37 balls) hit a 21st 21 t20i fifty when she celebrated her 300th International Cap, the opener – who was dropped on five – to get England off to a flyer with Sophia Dunkley (46 off 30) as they shared in their second century stand as a partnership.
Both left over seven balls, while Tammy Beaumont – after Tonking 30 out of 20 – and Amy Jones (10) fell into the final with only six demanded when suddenly things were tense, but Sophie Ecclestone (4NO) hit the winning race from the last ball when India missed out of an output chance that would have taken things for a super over.
India had already wrapped the T20 series, leading 3-1 entered this last match in Birmingham, but England secured a moral-boosting victory that went into the three-match Odi series, starting Wednesday in Southampton-Live on Sky Sports Cricket From 1 p.m. 12.30 (first ball, 13:00).
After being deployed by Beaumont at the throw, Shafali Verma was the prominence with bats for India, the opener broke 13 borders and a six in her 75 out of 41 balls, which helped visitors recover after the loss of Smriti Mandhana (8) and Jemimah Rodrigues (1) inside the first three overrun.
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Emily Arlott picks up the early and big wicket of Smriti Mandhana inside the first one over
At one point, Verma – who beat India’s second fastest T20i fifty, from 23 balls – to shoot her side to an impressive total, only to be impressively tied back by England’s trio of spinners.
Charlie Dean (3-23), Sophie Ecclestone (2-28) and Linsey Smith (1-26) combined for excellent figures of 6-77 from their 12 Overs
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A brilliant catch from Maia Bouchier in the depths gets Shafali Verma out at 75
Bouchier returned to England’s side instead of Alice Capsey, who was left out with the sailors Lauren Bell and Lauren files, rested in front of the ODDs.
The task of beating a woman’s record run on Edgbaston, but the brilliant batting of Wyatt-Hodge and Dunkley quickly got India’s overall look, if something, under par.
Wyatt-Hodge earned a postponement in the other over, fell by Sree Charani on a short fine leg as a burst through her hands and to the border, and it turned out to be a costly mistake as she kicked on to a 30-ball half a century.
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Danni Wyatt-Hodge turns four after the ball burst through the hands of Sree Charani in short fine legs
Dunkley seemed to follow his partner through to the same brand, only to get four cards in the 11th over, bowled through the gate of Radha Yadav (1-20).
One became two in the 12th when Wyatt-Hodge’s Day was performed when slogging one up to the middle of Depti Sharma (2-31), but stand-in skipper Beaumont’s knock seemed to avert the threat of any late wobble until the final over-drama.
Beaumont was bowled by Arundhati Reddy (2-47), while Jones were away two balls later for a spectacular diving catch by Radha Yadav at Deep Midwicket – England’s task suddenly much harder, with five still needed from the last three balls.
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All angles on Radha Yadavs ‘excellent’ diving catch in deep midwick to reject Amy Jones in 10 races at Edgbaston.
But Ecclestone took three from Reddy’s next, with singles exchanged the last two for the victory, though Mandhana missed the chance to run out of Ecclestone with a direct hit from the middle of the last ball.
Beaumont ‘proud’ after series-ending victory
England Stand-in Captain Tammy Beaumont:
“It’s been a difficult series for us, but credit to India, they’ve played some challenging cricket. They’ve come out with power in their batting line-up, and sometimes we haven’t had the answers.
“But I’m proud of the girls to get a performance tonight. I’m really glad we got that victory. We showed character, which is all we pray for.
“A lot has been said about our athletics, but it’s not something you can solve overnight. We put the work in and start to see more [good] notions under pressure. “
“It can just take a little longer to have the perfect game.”
HarmanPreet: Great achievement to win series
India Captain Harmanpreet Kaur:
“It’s a great achievement for us to win the series, and I thought we were playing well today it was very close. It was a great effort and the way we fought back was unique.
“It’s about how you train. The camps we had before they came here helped us to give us confidence.
“The ODDs are another format that we all love, and hopefully the way we played the T20 series will help us go into it with the same mindset.”
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T20 International Series
One-day international series
- First Odi: Wednesday 16th July (13:00) – Southampton
- Other ODDE: Saturday 19th July (11 am) – Lord’s
- Third Odi: Tuesday 22 July (13:00) -chester-Le-Street
See the first woman’s one-day international between England and India, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 7 p.m. 12.30 Wednesday (first ball at 1pm) or stream without a contract.