Spin newcomers along with Mandhana clinch five-wicket victory in final T20I against England
Dec 10, 2023
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 10 : India's women's team wrapped up the T20I series against England with a victory that will certainly lift their spirits as a long home season lies ahead of them.
After losing two consecutive games and the series as well, the Indian team led by Harmanpreet Kaur lived up to the expectations in all departments.
Before the game kicked off, Harmanpreet expressed her delight with the level of cricket that the team played despite most of it coming in patches.
But on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium, they brought all the pieces together and played the best cricket throughout the series.
Spinners certainly spread their charm all over the pitch as newcomers Saika Ishaque and Shreyanka Patil claimed three wickets each while pacers Renuka Singh and Amanjot Kaur ended the night with two each in their kitty.
The spin duo ran through England's middle order as the visitors lost five wickets for just nine runs in 21 balls.
When wickets kept falling at one end, Heather Knight attacked the bowlers to keep the scoreboard ticking.
With two overs remaining, Knight was at 33(35), in the next six balls she tonked 19 runs which included two sixes and a single boundary.
Amanjot brought curtains to her innings for a score of 52(42).
England ended with a score of 126.
While chasing 127, explosive batter Shafali Verma came down the track looking to clear the boundary but ended up missing it completely.
Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues stepped up when the situation demanded them to.
Even though both batters didn't play a quick-fire knock which is the trademark of the T20 format, they played according to the situation keeping the hosts in the game.
Mandhana's run-a-ball 48 included two maximums, and five fours while Rodrigues relied on the sweep as she raced to her 29 off 33 deliveries.
Mandhana fell short of her deserved half-century while Rodrigues got trapped in front of the wicket while making another attempt to play a sweep shot.
With Harmanpreet on the other end, Amanjot played a short cameo with 10 in just four balls which included two boundaries to seal a five-wicket victory for India.
Brief Score: England 126 (Heather Knight 52; Shreyanka Patil 3-19, Saika Ishaque 3-22) vs India 127/5 (Smriti Mandhana 48, Jemimah Rodrigues 29; Freya Kemp 2-24).
