Trent Bridge
Smriti Mandhana, a player who could win the series off her own bat, you might think, hit Lauren Bell’s second ball for four through mid-off. This was the start of a ritual slaughter.
Early tactics were on show: Charlotte Edwards preferred one over per bowler; India preferred hitting fours to running in the heat.
The first DRS decision – did Shafali Verma nick Lauren Filer to the keeper? – went against England (and the umpire’s decision). The ball pinged her helmet.
Linsey Smith took the fourth over. Mandhana hit her first two balls for four; 14 in total! She ducked under a 76mph bumper from Filer.
Ecclestone was saved till after the powerplay (47-0). This was her big return after a sea of troubles. The days of her place at the top of the world seemed long ago. This impression was painfully reinforced when Mandhana hit her for two sixes. She went for 18, a sharp return to reality. Mandhana needed only eight overs to reach 50.
England’s breakthrough came (too late?) when Verma, never quite in touch, gave Ecclestone a catch off Arlott (77-1). Smith’s return cost 14 runs.
Drinks came with India sitting warm but comfortable on 98-1. They went roaring ahead.
The only surprise about Mandhana’s century (in 15.4 overs) was that it was her first in this format. (14×4, 3×6). It brought her level with the few who have scored tons in all three formats (Knight, Wolvaardt, Mooney, Beaumont).
Harleen Deol had more than kept up with her partner. By the time she skied a catch to Arlott off Bell she had added 43 off 23.
As the overs ran out, Indian bats swung even more violently. This led to a tumble of wickets, but far too late for English comfort.
Bell’s figures stood out like a beacon: 4-0-27-3.
NSB gave Ecclestone the last over. Just for a change, Mandhana hit her for four, then lofted a catch to the England captain, to leave the field showered in congratulations. (112/62, 15×4, 3×6)
This was an ice-cold shower for England on a hot day. Among the few blessings: the nature of T20 matches is, you pick up late-order wickets to ease the pain. England scraped five together.
The Reply
Dunkley made the right gesture, hitting Amanjot Kaur’s first ball for four. But she edged the last ball of the over to the keeper to put the skids under the innings.
The next ball Wyatt-Hodge achieved what you might consider the impossible: she scored her third consecutive 0 by edging Sharma to Deol at short-third. It has happened before, but not to an opener.
Visions of pot-hunting in the coming World Cup were vanishing fast. Could the new captain restore some credibility? (9-2)
Things looked better as Kaur’s second offering was hit for 14.
Beaumont and NSB had a good look at Shree Charani, a 20-year-old spinner on debut, till Tammy hit her last ball for 4 through point. The two experienced batters slowly took charge; the 50 came up at the start of the sixth over – fast, but not fast enough.
As Beaumont was bowled by Sharma, Katherine Sciver-Brunt on commentary felt she’d looked nervous. We have to ask why. Had the management not put her doubts at rest? If she had opened instead of DWH? (58-3)
Amy Jones was stumped second ball by Ghosh off Radha Yadav. Already we could imagine furrow-browed discussions between Edwards and Lydia Greenway about future steps. So many players had already wilted under that infamous word “pressure”. Next it was Alice Capsey’s turn to chop the ball to short third.
By half-time England had mustered 78-5. That good-looking run-rate of 7.8 was barely half what was needed. NSB was 47*; the next best score was Beaumont’s 10.
Arlott cheered the crowd by thumping the first six of the innings. Two balls later she was out 12/10). She top-edged into the covers, not short-third.
NSB reached her 50 in the eleventh. The crowd had something more to cheer.
Sharma went for 14 in her next over, not taking the opportunity to run out the non-striker. Charani gained her second victim as Ecclestone slogged to deep mid-wicket.
The captain fell in the 15th (66/42), giving Charani her third wicket. India wrapped the game up inside fifteen overs.
Scores:
India 210-5 (Mandhana 112)
England 113 (14.5 overs) (Charani 4-12) India win by 97 runs
Teams:
England
Sophia Dunkley, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Nat Sciver-Brunt (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones, Em Arnott, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell
India
Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana (captain), Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani
Note: Harmanpreet Kaur absent injured
Afterthoughts
This was Charlotte Edwards’ first big test. How damaging would such a huge loss prove? Her choice of an XI to contest the second match will be more than usually interesting. The three squad players not used were Charlie Dean, Paige Scholfield and Issy Wong.
England’s two prize left-arm spinners, Ecclestone and Smith, went for 1-84 off a combined six overs.
We can’t tell how the game would have unfolded if Mandhana had fallen early, but the fear is, her team might still have won by a street.
There were pre-match worries about English weakness against spin-bowling; they proved justified. Who shall we blame? The coaches?
It’s now the fashion to name the ends of a cricket-ground after the two most distinguished home players. The trouble is, it’s no longer evident which end is which. At Trent Bridge the Stuart Broad end is the Pavilion end. He was born in and played for Northamptonshire.
Act II starts on 1 July at Bristol at 18.30.
