The Indian Women’s Cricket Team managed a brilliant victory against England Women in the second T20I match in Hove, all thanks to a late but remarkable flurry of wickets by ace spinners, Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma. With this victory, Team India has high hopes of ending this series with level points—India now has six points compared to England’s eight.
India lost the first match of the series, partly due to the weather playing spoilsport. In the first match, India scored a meagre 54 runs off of three wickets, while England scored 177 for seven wickets. In the second, India finished at 148 runs for four wickets, while England lost at 140 runs for eight. All eyes are now on the team’s performance on Thursday in Chelmsford, where they’ll play the final against England.
Here are all the highlights of the series for those who couldn’t watch it live.
Harleen’s superhero catch
The biggest highlight of the first match against England was, clearly, Harleen Deol’s jaw-dropping catch. Deol was fielding when England’s Amy Jones—who had already scored 43 runs off of 26 balls—sent the ball flying towards her. It looked like there was no way the ball wouldn’t make it across the boundary, but Deol’s presence of mind and brilliance delivered a spectacular catch we’ll all be watching on loop for years to come.
Verma and Mandhana’s partnership
In the second match, Shafali Verma scored 48 runs, which was a part of a 70-run opening she shared with Smriti Mandhana. This inning was India’s first 50-plus opening stand in T20Is in England. Their highest previous score was of 27 runs. Verma and Mandhana had a promising partnership until Mady Villiers dismissed both.
Sharma and Rana’s boundaries
While captain Harmanpreet Kaur was still out of form in the second match, Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana managed a few much-needed boundaries. India collected 46 runs in the last five overs and closed the innings at 148 for four wickets.
Yadav, Sharma and Rana’s fight back
Despite the loss of early wickets in their innings, the English team managed to keep their momentum with many boundaries. Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight scored 59 and 30 runs respectively. Amy Jones and Katherine Brunt’s partnership looked promising, but Poonam Yadav and Sneh Rana ensured their stint was short. England lost six wickets for a mere 31 runs, within the space of 5.4 overs—all thanks to Sharma and Yadav.
The victory of the Indian attack
With Sophia Dunkley and Villiers getting run out, the Indian onslaught became too much for England to handle. India’s fight around the end of the match, and the flurry of wickets they scored, ensured that England finished the match at 140 for eight wickets. With this nail-biting end to the match, India’s hopes for the final match of the series are running high.