England Women v India Women 3rd ODI Worcester on Saturday 3rd July
As heard on radio Sports Xtra (Commentators Alex Hartley, Daniel Norcross, Henry Moeran and Isabelle Westbury): were scathing of Indias’ chances, asking what chance they had against England, averaging 270 runs per match? They were all proved wrong! England seemed in control at 153-3, at which point there was a ‘reasonable collapse’ as England edged to 219. India’s skipper Mithali Raj with Deepti Sharma took India to a respectable 150-4, needing to score faster than one-run-per-ball. The match reached its climax during the final over when Skipper Mithali Raj struck the winning ‘four’ leaving 3 balls to spare.
*Before the match, England’s Kate Cross told ‘ICC News’ that she ‘deserved recognition’ for her perseverance to bowl perfect ‘line and length’ needed to take the series. *ICC also spoke to Harmanpreet Kaur who gave credit to India’s bowlers whom she said always ‘kept India in the game.’ The rain-affected match started late. Six overs were lost, limiting each innings to 47 overs.
*Batting first, Tammy Beaumont fell for a fourth-ball duck. Reaching her 3000-run milestone in ODI cricket, England’s skipper Heather Knight (46 from 71) fell four runs short of 50. Knight’s – and Amy Jones’ (17) dismissals were said to come from similar errors, attempting to hit slower balls too early. Jones was wearing her fiftieth ODI England cap
*England’s top scorer Natalie Sciver (49 runs from 59 balls) was reportedly ‘brilliantly caught’ by Smriti Mandhana on a full-length dive, probably the best catch of the whole series. Commentators added that Katherine Brunt’s dismissal seemed unfair as India’s keeper snapped-up the ball somewhat prematurely, before it passed the stumps. It seemed unlikely that the ‘Third Umpire’ was asked for clarification
* During the course of India’s reply, BBC statisticians said that Skipper Mithali Raj became the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket. Once Natalie Sciver caught-and-bowled Deepti Sharma around the 150 mark, commentators were convinced that every ‘dot ball’ shifted the balance to England’s favour as the run-rate drifted above one-run-per-ball
* The match reached its climax -to commentators’ disbelief- as Mithali Raj (75* runs from 86 balls) struck Katherine Brunt for the winning ‘four’ with 3 balls to spare. India’s win was said to be ‘the last time India’s ODI skipper played on English soil’ – (having already retired from T20) Summarising earlier matches, commentators said that England’s first ODI win was straightforward, when compared to the second – said to be ‘more gritty.’ Separately, Harmanpreet Kaur’s substitution had not gone unnoticed
Result: India Women 220 beat England Women 219 by 4 wickets and with 3 balls remaining
England 219 (47 overs – reduced innings) Natalie Sciver 49, Heather Knight 46, Lauren Winfield-Hill 36, Sophia Dunkley 28; India bowling: Deepti Sharma 3/47, Harmanpreet Kaur 1/24, Juhlan Goswami 1/31, Sneh Rana 1/31, Shikha Pandey 1/42, Poonam Yadav 1/43; Fow 1-1, 2-68, 3-110, 4-151, 5-163, 6-177, 7-192, 8-196, 9-197, 10-219
India 220-6 (46.3/ 47 overs – reduced innings) Mithali Raj 75*, Smriti Mandhana 49, Sneh Rana 24, Shafali Verma 19, Deepti Sharma 18; England bowling: Sophie Ecclestone 2/36, Heather Knight 1/15, Sarah Glenn 1/36, Kate Cross 1/38, Natalie Sciver 1/34; Fow 1-46, 2-66, 3-81, 4-131, 5-164, 6-214
Scorecard & videos at https://www.icc-cricket.com/match/31727#scorecard
Multiformat Points Tally: England Women 6pts India Women 4pts
Next matches: T20I series: Northampton on July 9; Hove on July 11 and Chelmsford on July 15
