INDIA WOMEN TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Amanjot Kaur hit nine fours on the way to an unbeaten 63 off 40 balls © Getty
India Women put on a clinical show to brush England aside yet again to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur set up India’s win with half-centuries which were then followed by a disciplined effort with the ball as the visitors registered a 24-run win in Bristol.
India were put into bat once again by England and the signs appeared to be ominous when Smriti Mandhana kickstarted the innings with two cuts in the opening over that reached the boundary. However, it was England all the way in the rest of the powerplay as Shafali Verma failed to make an impact yet again on her return to the national side. While Rodrigues started off on a positive note with two boundaries, India lost the big wicket of Mandhana for just 13.
The powerplay became worse when Harmanpreet Kaur, returning to the XI, failed to put away a poor delivery to depart for just 1. With the scorecard reading 35/3 at the end of the powerplay, Amanjot and Rodrigues had a rebuilding job ahead of them. A 14-run over from Linsay Smith helped India turn the tide, with the run rate finally going past six. Rodrigues then found the next step when she went 6,4,4 against Em Arlott and backed it up with three more fours in the very next over to bring up an excellent half-century. It was then Amanjot’s turn to put the hosts under pressure as she too found the boundary thrice in the following over as India scored 49 runs in the space of three overs.
An excellent catch from Sophia Dunkley brought an end to Rodrigues’s innings but Amanjot reached fifty during the slog overs. She and Richa Ghosh consistently found the boundary to add 55 in the final five overs with Ghosh remaining unbeaten on 32 off just 20. With momentum on their side, India made a cracking start with the ball to jolt England, with their top order heading back to the pavilion with just 17 on the board. Dunkley got herself unnecessarily run out in the opening over and Dani Wyatt-Hodge hit one straight to mid-off to give Deepti Sharma a wicket off the first ball.
While Nat-Sciver Brunt injected some momentum with three fours in the space of four deliveries, she mistimed one off Amanjot in the following over to leave England reeling. Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones did put England back on track following an excellent partnership that was dominated by the former. In the process, Beaumont brought up her first fifty in almost four years. But just when she kept England alive in the chase, a brilliant effort on the field from Sneh Rana ensured Beaumont got run out. India made full use of that opening as they picked up a few more wickets and squeezed in some tight overs to get the job done despite a few late blows from Sophie Ecclestone.
Brief scores: India 181/4 in 20 overs (Amanjot Kaur 63*, Jemimah Rodrigues 63; Lauren Bell 2/17) beat England 157/7 in 20 overs (Tammy Beaumont 54, Sophie Ecclestone 35*; Shree Charani 2/28) by 24 runs
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