England women beat India women in the final T20 match to win the three match series 2-1. It was a decider as both the teams were locked at 1-1 going into the final game. The loss was disappointing for the Indian team as they failed to win even a single format vs England. Earlier the only test match between the two teams was a draw while England won the ODI series by similar margin of 2-1.
The third T20 was played at Chelmsford and Indian team won the toss. Harmanpreet Kaur the skipper elected to bat first. Unfortunately the tourists had a poor start with the bat as opener Shafali Verma was gone for a duck. The number 3 batter Harleen Deol followed her and was gone after making 6 runs.
Kaur and Mandhana then added 65 runs for the third wicket. The Indian skipper made 36 runs in 26 balls and keeper Richa Ghosh scored 20 in 13 balls. Hence India finished with a score of 153-6. The top scorer for the Indian team was opener Smriti Mandhana. She made an attractive 70 in 51 balls and hit 8 fours as well as 2 sixes.
The south paw Mandhana hit her first six in the 11th over. On the first ball of the over, a length ball was whacked over long off for a gigantic six.
India lost but Smriti played brilliantly
Her second maximum arrived in the 16th over. It was the second ball of the over by spinner Ecclestone. Furthermore the delivery was a full one on the leg stump and was thumped over square via a slog sweep by Mandhana. Unfortunately for her, she fell when trying to repeat the same shot in the next over.
The batter tried to bash a delivery over leg side for another 6. However it was a slower one by the bowler. Hence Mandhana mistimed the shot and it went up in the air. The fielder positioned there was Nat Sciver and she easily took the catch ending a brilliant innings by Mandhana.
In reply, England chased the target of 154 without breaking a sweat. Opener Danni Wyatt was the top scorer for the hosts. She made 89* in just 56 balls and hit 12 fours and a six as England knocked off the victory score in 18.4 overs.
Watch the highlights of the match:
