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That will be all from this contest. India are up and running and will look to make it 2-0 in Bristol on Tuesday (July 1). That's a night fixture and the first ball will be bowled at 11 PM IST (6:30 PM local time). Do join us for that and plenty more on Sportskeeda. For the moment, this is the duo of Pradeep and Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. Thank you so much for joining us as we hope you enjoyed our coverage. Have a cracking Sunday tomorrow. Good night!
Just the perfect day for Smriti Mandhana. She had to step into Harmanpreet Kaur's shoes as captain and she delivered, leading from the front with the bat and setting the tone for a massive win. Her field changes and usage of spin was spot on too and India have delivered a serious early punch, leaving England with plenty to think about ahead of the next game in Bristol - another venue that is known to favor the batters. Should Harmanpreet return for that game, it will only bolster India's chances further. Long way to go in the series though for the Women in Blue and like Mandhana said, they would want to make winning a habit.
India's captain Smriti Mandhana is undoubtedly the Player of the Match for her sparkling 112 off 62 balls. Here's what she has to say: It took a very long time coming. I just had this habit of getting out in the 70s and 80s around the 13th over. But I remember talking to one of the teammates that it's high time I got a century. Happy to do it in the first match. As I said at the toss, we had good prep in the last few days. England wickets are really good to bat on. Especially with the wind factor, you just have to time the ball. The way Harleen batted - Harman got a niggle and for her to come in today and knowing this morning that she was going to play, she got the momentum going after Shafali's wicket. It made it easy for me. We discussed after the first innings that it's a good wicket and the wind factor is huge but if we're bowling against the wind was to bowl slow. The way Sciver-Brunt was batting, the plan was to get her off strike. The way the bowlers executed their plans was very good. Richa's catch was excellent. We took almost all the catches. Really happy, but it's just the start. Four matches left, we need to keep the momentum going and make it a habit.
Nat Sciver-Brunt [England captain]: "Injuries on our side didn't help us, challenged us and we didn't bowl as well as we would've wanted to, couldn't play to our potential. You'd like to take every catch, didn't quite go our way, something to work in our next game. May be a little bit, when you are chasing 200 you have to keep going, losing early wickets put us behind. Everyone came in with intent, give us few chances. Trying to get on strike, come back to twos as much as I can. Boundary every over was in mind. We executed at times with the ball, we pulled things back towards the end, not much to take from it otherwise. It's a good challenge in a five match series."
5:28 PM local time, 9:58 PM IST: India beat England by 97 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series!
As Nasser Hussain says on air, this is some statement from India! It has taken them a little over an hour to dismantle this England lineup and send them crashing to their heaviest defeat in T20Is. It was all set up by stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana's maiden T20I hundred and Harleen Deol's rapid 43 that powered the visitors to a massive 210 - a score that seemed ten runs fewer than what they could have got on a road of a pitch at Trent Bridge...
...except, it proved to be way, way too many for England. They had no choice but to go hell for leather and in the process, lost wickets at an alarming rate. Both openers, Sophia Dunkley and Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, were dismissed in the first two overs with Richa Ghosh plucking a stunner to dismiss the former. Skipper Natalie Sciver-Brunt began in brilliant fashion, clearing the infield and looking all at ease against both the pacers and the spinners. But not one of the other batters were close to being effective enough.
That really was the story of the innings. Sciver-Brunt cantered along at her end but Tammy Beaumont failed to get going, perishing off the last ball of the powerplay as India bagged three in that phase despite England scoring 58. The visitors picked a spin-heavy attack and they showed just why, with Deepti and Sneh Rana bowling to their field and Radha Yadav duly chipping away at the wickets herself, slowing the pace down quite brilliantly.
But the star of the show was debutant Shree Charani, who bowled like a seasoned pro. She mixed her pace and used her height to great advantage while also displaying outstanding control, snaring four wickets in the end to cap off a dream debut. One of those wickets also included Sciver-Brunt, who looked unflappable at her end as she raised yet another half-century. Alas, it was the only silver lining amidst the rubble for England, who endured a forgettable outing. They were out-batted, out-bowled and certainly out-fielded by India, who have deservedly taken the honors today. Stick around for the presentation...
All smiles and glee on the faces of the Indians! And rightfully so - this has been one dominant performance and a serious warning shot fired early in the series.
Lauren Bell has been dismissed for 2 runs off 4 balls
14.5 Shree Charani to Lauren Bell, OUT! MILES UP IN THE AIR AND TAKEN! That's it, India win and go 1-0 up in the series! Absolute statement win for India this, proper hammering to England. Length delivery on off-stump, Bell with a massive swing across the line, thought she got hold of it but just didn't. Rodrigues near the boundary, back tracks but judges it well and pouches it to seal the game.
14.4 Shree Charani to Lauren Bell, slants the length delivery on the stumps, Bell defends it to short mid-wicket for no run.
14.3 Shree Charani to Lauren Bell, on a length outside the off-stump, Bell has a big swing and a miss.
14.2 Shree Charani to Lauren Bell, length delivery outside the off-stump, Bell slices it over extra-cover and they scamper through for a couple.
Lauren Bell batting at 11th position
It's Nelson that strikes once again as Sciver-Brunt falls at last. End of a masterful innings but alas, she had zero support to render it anywhere close to a match-winning one. Charani's debut just keeps getting better.
Natalie Sciver has been dismissed for 66 runs off 42 balls
14.1 Shree Charani to Natalie Sciver-Brunt, OUT! ANOTHER BIG APPEALS FOR CAUGHT BEHIND, NOT GIVEN THIS TIME! Ghosh is confident, convinces Mandhana to take the review. Floated on a length outside the off-stump, extra-bounce as Sciver-Brunt reaches to cut and might've taken the outside edge to Ghosh.
UltraEdge confirms a spike as the ball passes the bat and that's the game for India! Sciver-Brunt did threaten to take the game away from India, but she kept losing partners and now she perishes too.
Linsey Smith batting at 10th position
The procession continues! Arundhati gets into the wickets now as Ghosh snaffles another sharp catch. India haven't had an answer to Sciver-Brunt but they don't seem bothered given that they've taken care of the opposite end without breaking a sweat.
14
overs
111/8score
1
1
4
0
1
w
runs
Lauren Filer*
2(4)
Natalie Sciver
66(41)
Arundhati Reddy
1/18
Lauren Filer has been dismissed for 2 runs off 4 balls
13.6 Arundhati Reddy to Lauren Filer, OUT! LOUD SHOUTS FOR CAUGHT BEHIND, FINGER GOES UP! Filer has a chat with Sciver-Brunt, continues to walk. Back of a length, nips away outside the off-stump. Filer throws her bat to it, takes a feather and Ghosh takes a sharp catch behind the stumps. England lose their eighth wicket.
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Lauren Filer
*
Arundhati Reddy
Video
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