India won their first-ever Women’s T20I series as they thrashed England by six wickets in the fourth match. Spin was the key to their victory.
This gives India an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. The last game is on Saturday in Birmingham. India had beaten England in a T20I match in Derby back in 2006. Since then, the Indian team had lost in every women’s T20I series against England, at home and away.
Spin was the reason for India’s win on Wednesday. Radha Yadav (2/15), Shree Charani (2/30) and Deepti Sharma (1/29) took five wickets together and restricted England to 126 for 7. Then Shafali Verma (32) and Smriti Mandhana (31) opened the batting with flair and put on a 56-run partnership that set up the win. The team reached the target with 18 balls to spare and ended the evening on a high.
This is a great confidence booster for India, to get used to English conditions before the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup here next year.
We are very happy to have won this series. I am very proud of my team. It was important to get this momentum and I am glad we all played our part, said Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur after the match.
We had good training camps at home before coming here. We planned well and executed those plans here. Everyone knew what they had to do and we all did it, she added.
Kaur and her team have been in great form. They started the series with a big 97-run win against England and then won by 24 runs in Bristol, which was England women’s first T20I loss at that ground. They lost the third T20I by five runs.
England chose to bat but were under pressure early as Indian spinners Radha and Deepti got both openers out. Stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont, filling in for the injured Nat Sciver-Brunt, hit back with a quick 20 off 16 balls including three fours. But Radha got her out and soon after Charani got Alice Capsey out leg-before, leaving England reeling at 93 for 5.The Indian bowlers were helped by good fielding which kept England from scoring in the middle overs and restricted them to a low total.
When India batted Shafali went after the short balls from the start and hit four fours. Mandhana too played well and hit five fours of her own. Both openers got out in quick succession but they had already laid the foundation. Jemimah Rodrigues (24 not out) and Harmanpreet Kaur (26) then took India home with a solid period of batting between overs 8 to 14.