Despite a solid start from the top-order, India Women could muster only 148/4 batting first in the second T20I. Shafali Verma top-scored with 48 while the others got decent starts. England Women were cruising at one stage and were 105/2 in 13 overs. However, the Indian spinners applied the squeeze, which marked a remarkable comeback and helped India level the series.
At 105/2 in 13 overs in the chase of 149, the game seemed dead and buried. England Women looked all set to seal the T20I series and overall series as well. However, the Indian spinners scripted a dramatic turnaround as they applied the squeeze. England choked and collapsed to an eight-run loss.
England W won the toss and opted to bowl first. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma got off to a solid start. The latter, in particular, was in full flow as she raced away to 38 off 17 balls. The 17-year-old smashed Katherine Brunt for five fours in an over as India flew to 47/0 in four overs. Mandhana played second fiddle but found the kept the scorecard ticking. There were a few quiet overs, and the two openers were dismissed in the space of three balls.
The opening stand was worth 70, and it came in 8.5 overs. The last 4.5 overs of the partnership yielded just 23 runs as England pulled things back. Harmanpreet Kaur finally found some form as she struck a decent 31. But England applied the brakes in the final stages of the innings as India could just score 34 runs in the last four overs. They finished with 148/4 in their 20 overs.
It was a below-par score. The England innings was off to a frenetic start. There were boundaries, wides and runouts. Arundhati Reddy got rid of Danni Wyatt in the second over. Shikha Pandey conceded 17 runs in five deliveries of the third over before Richa Ghosh hit the stumps direct to dismiss the dangerous and in-form Nat Sciver.
But from then, Tammy Beaumont and skipper Heather Knight looked in total control. They were in c a commanding position. Beaumont got to her half-century while Knight got a solid start. Deepti Sharma got the breakthrough for India in the 14th over before Knight was dismissed in a rather unfortunate manner.
The England captain was caught in a tangle with Deepti at the bowler’s end as the ball touched the off-spinner’s boot and caught Knight short.
Sophia Dunkley was involved in a mix-up with Amy Jones, which led to her runout before Poonam Yadav struck in successive overs and conceded just seven runs in her last two overs. Sneh Rana had 14 runs to defend in the final over, and she held her nerve well to concede just five to help India win by eight runs.
The T20I series is now level at 1-1, and the overall series points tally now stands at 8-6 in favour of England. India have a chance of levelling the series.
Brief scores
India 148/4 (Verma 48, Kaur 31, Sciver 1/20, Villers 1/9) beat England 140/8 (Beaumont 59, Knight 30, Poonam 2/17, Sharma 1/18) by eight runs
