IND-W vs ENG-W 1st T20I: Nat Sciver-Brunt shines as England women beat Indian women by 38 runs in Mumbai
India failed miserably in all departments of the match as they suffered a comprehensive 38-run defeat to England in the first T20I.
New Delhi: The Heather Knight-led England women’s team defeated Harmanpreet Kaur’s Indian women’s team by 38 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 6. Nat Sciver-Brunt received the Player of the Match award for her astonishing all-round performance.
Sciver-Brunt first played a crucial knock of 77 runs and then even picked up a big wicket of Smriti Mandhana in the second innings to provide the England team with their first breakthrough. She bowled the Indian opener to put India under pressure early in the big chase.
“Very happy. Great to be back with the English girls and put on such a performance. We wanted to stand up and be brave in our approach. Danni did that very well and took the pressure off me. I was very pleased with how the collaboration went,” Sciver-Brunt said in the post-match presentation.
“We have different strengths and we work well together as a partnership and are also very pleasant and happy for her. The wicket was quite good, it held a touch for the spinners and the slower balls were quite effective which made it somewhat difficult for the batters,” she added.
India failed miserably in all departments of the match as they suffered a comprehensive 38-run defeat to England in the first T20I. After opting to bowl, India produced a poor fielding and bowling performance except for Renuka Singh’s 3/27 to allow England 197 for 6 and could then score only 159 for 6 in 20 overs to win the match lose and concede a 1-0 lead. to England in the series.
Only Shafali Verma (52 off 42 balls) could score big in the Indian run chase. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (26) and Richa Ghosh (21) failed to convert their starts as India failed to seriously challenge the big target.
India needed 74 runs from the last five overs and that proved too much for the home side.
Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone was the favorite among the English bowlers with figures of 3/15 as she accounted for Shafali, Harmanpreet and Kanika Ahuja.
Shafali put up something of a lonely battle, hitting 52 off 42 balls with nine fours, but she continued to run out of partners until her innings ended, with the right-handed batter notching her seventh fifty in the format.