England fell to a 35-run defeat in their opening game of the ICC Women’s World Cup, despite a fine innings from Fran Wilson.
Wilson’s 79 had looked like giving England a chance in what would have been a record-breaking chase but when she was run out with 53 still required there was too much left to do for England’s lower order.
India batted first after being put in and they amassed 281-3 from their 50 overs, opener Smriti Mandhana top-scoring with 90 and fellow opener Punam Raut making 86. England move on to Leicester, where they will face Pakistan on Tuesday June 27.
India’s top three put on a batting display to grace the highest stage as they edged a gripping contest at Derby on the opening day of the 2017 Women’s World Cup.
Openers Poonam Raut and Smrti Mandhana scored 86 and 90 respectively, and captain Mithali Raj produced a record-breaking seventh consecutive ODI half-century, in an imposing 281 for three from 50 overs.
Left-handed Mandhana played the most aggressive of the three innings, showing the new ball little respect as she cut and pulled regular boundaries in the opening power-play. She was set for an emotional hundred and looked forlorn when, on 90, she hit Heather Knight to Dani Hazell at midwicket.
Raut played conservatively in compiling 86 from 134 balls, and all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur hit a quickfire 24, but Raj proved the class act in her fifth World Cup.
Scoring 71 from 73 deliveries with consummate ease, she now has the record for consecutive ODI fifties and her career tally of 47 ODI half-centuries is the highest in the women’s game. So at ease is she in this environment, she was pictured reading a book on the boundary edge five minutes before going out to bat!
To win, England would have had to beat their best ever run-chase and the second highest in any women’s ODI. Despite that, they made a real fist of the task at hand.
Heather Knight held the middle order together with a resolute 46 as India maintained a tight grip early in the innings. Beaumont, Taylor, and Sciver had fallen at regular interrvals, with Pandey the pick of the bowlers, before Knight and Fran Wilson started to fight back. When Katherine Brunt joined Wilson to put on 62 in 8 overs, a home win looked a real possibility.
Batting at number six, Fran Wilson’s 81 was an innings of real quality; having started cautiously with her captain, she started playing more expansive strokes in tandem with the combative, energetic Brunt. Her demise, though, was telling (and in a few months, may be considered not out… but that’s another story). She, Heather Knight, and Katherine Brunt all fell to run-outs, as did Jenny Gunn. Resulting from a mixture of bad luck, poor judgement, and some great fielding, it was enough to tip the balance of a tight run-chase just in India’s favour.
Speaking after the game, Heather Knight was disappointed, but not dispirited, and she’s confident as England head to Leicester to face Pakistan on Tuesday.
“We didn’t get our lengths right at the start, and conceded too many runs early on. Our bowlers will accept they didn’t bowl the way they wanted to, but we have two of the best bowlers in the World and I expect them to bounce back.”
In today’s other match New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets. You can see all the fixtures here.
Report courtesy of ECB
