Third T20, The Oval
England 171-9 (20 overs): Dunkley 75 (53); Sharma 3-27
India 166-5 (20 overs): Mandhana 56 (49); Filer 2-30
England won by five runs; India lead series 2-1
Scorecard
England held their nerve to keep the T20 series alive with a thrilling last-ball victory by five runs against India at The Oval.
Chasing 172 to win, India needed 12 from the last over and six off the final ball, but seamer Lauren Bell had opposing captain Harmanpreet Kaur caught at mid-off for 23 – and the hosts now only trail 2-1 in the series with two matches to play.
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The tourists, eyeing a series win at the earliest opportunity, were in full control, needing 49 from 42 balls with nine wickets in hand before an eye-catching spell of fast bowling from Lauren Filer changed the course of the game.
Filer had Jemimah Rodrigues caught behind for 20 and star batter Smriti Mandhana, who made 56, was also beaten for pace and caught at mid-on as the quick regularly reached speeds of 79mph.
Harmanpreet’s knock kept India in the hunt but England restricted them to 166-5 despite a flurry of dropped chances in a chaotic ending, setting up a tantalising encounter in the fourth of five T20s at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
England’s first innings also provided plenty of drama, as they raced to 137-0 after fine half-centuries from Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, before losing nine wickets for 31 runs in the space of 4.4 overs, and finishing with 171-9.
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Dunkley made 75 from 53 balls and Wyatt-Hodge struck 66 from 42, but Sophie Ecclestone’s 10 was the only other score in double figures in a collapse which included three batters falling first ball.
It is yet to be confirmed whether captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was ruled out of the match with a hip injury, will be fit for the rest of the series.
England’s collapse of carnage
England’s top order was under pressure, with opening stands of nine and two in the series so far, but Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge responded to the pressure in style having been given the freedom to bat first and set a total after stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont won the toss.
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They were initially quite cautious, reaching 44-0 from the six-over powerplay, before Dunkley led the acceleration, targeting the leg side and using her feet effectively to the spinners who were put under pressure for the first time.
Wyatt-Hodge followed suit after a slower start as England were on course for a total close to 200, contrasting with Dunkley by hitting effectively through and over the covers, as India’s bowlers had no answers to their variety.
What followed, however, was baffling.
Dunkley clubbed a full toss back to Sharma for the breakthrough, before the triple wicket over from seamer Arundhati Reddy – Capsey was caught after trying to ramp her third ball, Wyatt-Hodge chipped a slower ball to the India captain and Jones was pinned lbw for a golden duck.
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Beaumont was bowled attempting a sweep at the end of the 18th over, before left-arm spinner Shree Charani – who was expensive with 43 runs conceded from her four overs – had Paige Scholfield stumped and Issy Wong caught behind first ball.
Filer completed the trio of first ballers as she was caught at mid-wicket off Sharma, who finished with respectable figures of 3-27, and though the collapse did not cost England in terms of the result, there is plenty for the batting line-up to ponder if they are going to become the ruthless side that coach Charlotte Edwards has spoken of.
Filer produces England’s X-factor
India will be wondering how they managed to let the game slip as they had England on the ropes.
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That was thanks partly to an opening stand of 85 between Mandhana and Shafali Verma, who made a 25-ball 47 after being dropped by Bell on four in the second over – the first of many shambolic drops which England also got away with.
Bell did respond with a sensational leaping one-handed grab with Verma on 25, also at deep third, but she fell over the rope and unfortunately gave away six in the process.
Verma was bowled by an Ecclestone beauty at the end of the ninth over but the whippet-like Rodrigues raced to 20 and Mandhana looked in the same imperious, form which enabled her to score a century in the first outing at Trent Bridge.
But Filer produced the performance needed when England had their backs to the wall. Both Rodrigues and Mandhana, two of India’s most experienced and talented players, were hopping about in their crease as Filer clocked an average pace of 76mph, the highest of her T20 career so far.
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All five of her fastest T20 deliveries were bowled in that spell, including a top speed of 79.4mph, as Rodrigues needlessly chased a wide delivery having been pushed back by the short ball. Mandhana’s wicket left India with a much more difficult target of 41 from 28 balls.
Harmanpreet fought to take the game deep after being dropped by Capsey, who put down a simple chance with the captain on one, which was the first of four dropped catches in five overs.
England got over the line, and will take confidence from winning despite a performance that was far from perfection.
‘That’s what you live for’ – what they said
Stand-in England captain Tammy Beaumont: “I think that’s what you live for in cricket. As captain, those are the moments you live for.
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“This is a massive moment for this team. We know it wasn’t the perfect game but we’ve been asking for improvement every game and there was some significant improvement.
“Now we believe we can go toe-to-toe with this India team and come out on top.”
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur: “I think we were in the game until the 16th over, but after that we didn’t utilise. We were executing our plans and looking for a few boundaries and we were just short by a boundary in the end.”
England’s Sophia Dunkley, player of the match: “That was absolutely unreal. I don’t think I’ve played in a game like that. The atmosphere, the crowd and the game were amazing.”
