INDIA WOMEN TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Harmanpreet Kaur registered the second fastest hundred by an Indian in Women’s ODIs © Getty
A blistering 84-ball 102 from Harmanpreet Kaur set the platform for India’s series-clinching 13-run win in the third ODI against England in Chester-le-Street. This was Harmanpreet’s first century since June 2024 and the second-fastest by an Indian Woman in ODIs as the visitors posted 318/5 – their eighth 300-plus total since January 2024. Harmanpreet was involved in an 81-run stand with Harleen Deol and 110 with Jemimah Rodrigues, after the openers added 64, with India riding on a collective batting effort to finish with an imposing total. England fought hard through Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 98 and her 162-run third wicket stand with Emma Lamb (68) but eventually ran out of steam as they were bowled out for 305. Kranti Goud bagged her maiden five-wicket haul, finishing with 6 for 52 – the fifth instance of an Indian bowler bagging six wickets in an ODI.
After India opted to bat, Smriti Mandhana peppered the cover region with a hat-trick of boundaries off Lauren Bell and followed that up by pulling Lauren Filer for a couple more fours. At the other end, Pratika Rawal got going with a glance off Bell for her first boundary, and then added another with an uppish drive past point in the same over. The introduction of spin brought some control, but before the 10th over was done, Mandhana and Rawal had raised a fifty-run stand – their 10th in 14 ODI innings. But the partnership was broken in the 13th over when Rawal, attempting a cut off Charlie Dean, edged it to Amy Jones, with England needing the DRS to overturn the onfield not out call.
However, England missed out on an opportunity to send Harleen back as they didn’t opt for the review when the batter was struck on the pad first in Sophie Ecclestone’s over. A watchful 17-run stand for the second wicket ended when Mandhana, on 45, pulled Ecclestone straight to midwicket, with the left-arm spinner finishing the over with a wicket-maiden. Harleen hit her first four, going through covers off Dean, which was followed by another maiden from Ecclestone. Harleen and Harmanpreet then struck a four apiece off Linsey Smith, with the Indian captain finally getting off the mark on her 11th delivery. India reached the 100-run mark in the 23rd over, with the England spinners doing a good job of slowing things down.
The Indian batters showed some urgency as the innings progressed, with a steady flow of boundaries. The half-century stand came up in 58 balls and India reached 150 in the 31st over. In between, England missed a big chance as they opted not to review when Filer struck Harmanpreet on the pad, with replays later showing three reds. The partnership ended when Bell got Harleen to top-edge a pull. Rodrigues began her innings with a confident cover drive for a four off Ecclestone, who was bowled out by the 34th over and finished with 1 for 28. Harmanpreet brought up a 54-ball fifty, her first in 2025, before Rodrigues hit three successive fours off Dean in the 41st over as India went past 200.
The boundary barrage continued as Harmanpreet and Rodrigues, between them, struck seven fours from overs 42-44, targetting Filer and Dean. Harmanpreet hit three fours off Smith in the 45th over as a 100-run stand was raised off 69 balls. Rodrigues got to a 44-ball fifty but fell soon after as she was caught behind off Filer, gloving a short ball. Harmanpreet then reached her seventh ODI century, off 82 balls, before Richa Ghosh struck a four off Smith and then hit Bell for a four and the first six of the innings. Harmanpreet fell to Smith shortly after Ghosh was dropped in the same over, and the wicketkeeper-batter provided the finishing touches with a six off Bell in the last over as India scored 120 runs off the last 10 overs.
Kranti Goud registered the fifth instance of an Indian bowler bagging six wickets in an ODI ©Getty
England’s chase didn’t start on a good note as Tammy Beaumont was cleaned up by an excellent delivery from Kranti Goud in the first over. Goud then struck again in her second over, finding the edge of Jones’ bat as Deepti Sharma plucked a one-handed blinder diving to her right at short thirdman. Lamb hit the first four of the innings when she lofted a Deepti delivery over mid-on in the fourth over. But two successive maidens from Sneh Rana and tight overs from Goud added to England’s pressure as Lamb and Sciver-Brunt were kept in check, with the hosts getting only 22 in the first 10 overs. There was, however, a reprieve for Lamb who was put down by the ‘keeper in Rana’s opening over.
Sciver-Brunt, who was on 3 off 26, finally got going with boundaries off Rana, while Lamb edged one off Shree Charani for a four. Radha Yadav, who replaced Arundhati Reddy for this game, struck Sciver-Brunt on the pad after she missed a sweep, but India ended up losing a review for it. Meanwhile, England’s third wicket pair took 84 deliveries to bring up the fifty-run stand before accelerating, as 66 runs came in overs 11-20. Lamb, who had slowed down, got going again with a four over Deepti’s head in the 21st over, shortly after being warned by the bowler for backing up too far outside the crease.
Sciver-Brunt got to a 67-ball fifty, the century stand came off 122 balls, and Lamb got to a 63-ball fifty. Dealing in regular boundaries, they also raised the highest partnership for England against India for any wicket, going past Caroline Atkins and Arran Brindle’s 134-run stand in 2002. Lamb got a couple of reprieves – a tough return catch put down by Charani, and a near chop-on that rolled onto the stumps without dislodging the bails. Eventually, her luck ran out as she was bowled by Charani trying to sweep. Sciver-Brunt moved to 98 with a four off Deepti but gloved a sweep down the leg side to the ‘keeper soon after, falling short of a hundred, as the set pair fell in quick succession.
India had also stemmed the boundary flow, leaving England needing 91 off the last 10 overs. To add to their troubles, Sophia Dunkley, who had scored a promising 34, was run out attempting a quick single. Alice Davidson-Richards and Dean tried to keep the fight going, with the latter getting a couple of much-needed boundaries. But with 55 needed off the last five overs, it was an uphill task for England – one that got even harder as Goud picked up Dean’s wicket and Charani dismissed Ecclestone, with Rodrigues holding on to both catches. England needed 44 off 18 when Davidson-Richards struck a four and a six off Goud before handing a catch in the deep. Goud then cleaned up Filer to bag her fifth wicket. England needed 23 in the final over and Bell struck a six off Goud before becoming the bowler’s sixth wicket as India wrapped up the game with one ball remaining.
Brief scores: India 318/5 in 50 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 102, Jemimah Rodrigues 50; Sophie Ecclestone 1-28) beat England 305 in 49.5 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 98, Emma Lamb 68; Kranti Goud 6-52) by 13 runs.
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