Finally, India achieved its maiden victory in the Tri-Series as they won the last T20 league match against England Women by eight wickets at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.
After Team England scored a meagre 107, the Indian batswomen achieved the target with 4.2 overs to spare. Opener Smriti Mandhana continued to score runs with her unstoppable form and scored an unbeaten 62 off 41 deliveries.
The opener was in a hurry and smashed Katie George for three boundaries in the second over and two fours in the fourth over. Mithali Raj (6 runs) and Jemimah Rodrigues (7 runs) departed early without disturbing the scoreboard much. But Mandhana put all her aggression to her hitting and scored her third fifty of the tournament with eight fours and a maximum.
After losing two wickets, Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur ensured that no more wickets fell and stitched together a 60-run partnership for the third wicket to lead the team towards victory.
Earlier, Indian spinners found their rhythm and pushed the England team back to the pavilion by sharing eight wickets. Anuja Patil got three wickets whereas Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, and Dipti Sharma got two wickets each. Pacer Pooja Vastrekar was able to get a wicket to her account.
The Indian spinners struck at regular intervals and did not let the English batswomen put up any impact on the scoreboard. The Indian fielding too was above par and aided the Indian bowling superbly. The English team was off to a poor start with only a 24-run stand between the openers. The visitors lost the last five wickets for just 16 runs.
The defeat wouldn’t disturb the English and they would be focused to win the finals. The final between England and Australia will be played on Saturday.
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