Worcester: A comprehensive bowling performance followed by a resilient batting from skipper Mithali Raj helped India’s women team to a four-wicket consolation victory over England in the third and final ODI on Saturday. Mithali (75 not out) and Smriti Mandhana (49) led India’s charge successfully chasing down a target with three balls to spare at the New Road in Worcester after the hosts were bundled out of 219.
Captain @M_Raj03 leads from the front with a match-winning 7⃣5⃣*! 👏 👏#TeamIndia beat England by 4⃣ wickets in the third & final WODI of the series! 👍 👍 #ENGvIND
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/hPLnrzGQ62 pic.twitter.com/ax9wEyBPLX
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 3, 2021
England came into having already put the series in their pocket but lost an early wicket after being asked to bat with Shikha Pandey going through the defense of Tammy Beaumont in the second over. Skipper Heather Knight led the rebuilding process along with Lauren Winfield Hill (36) adding 67 runs for the second wicket before the latter fell to Sneh Rana.
Natalie Sciver together with her skipper tried their best to stretch the scoreboard on a tricky surface. Knight finally got dismissed for a fighting 71-ball 46 with Sciver following her soon falling just short of a well-deserved half-century. Amy Jones and Sophia Dunkley added valuable contrubition down the order to take their side over 200 but got all-out for 219.
Deepti Sharma was the pick of bowlers (3/47) with Jhulan Goswami bowling a tight spell(1/31) in nine overs. In reply, India were off to a good start despite losing a couple of wickets in the early parts of the innings. Smriti Mandhana was looking steady out before getting LBW by Sarah Glenn.
The veteran Mithali took the game to the opposition fighting a solo battle with others in the line up being unable to stay with at the crease. Despite that, Rana again proved to be quite valuable as she added a quickfire 22-ball 24 to boost up the run rate. England bowlers were keeping tight right from the start especially Sophie Ecclestone (2/36) who was again the pick of their bowlers.
The visitors needed someone to step up for them, and Mithali was the one. With six needed of the last over the talismanic skipper kept her cool to get it over the line for India. England won the series 2-1. In the process, Mithali also became the highest run-getter in women’s international cricket with 10337 runs surpassing English Charlotte Edwards (10273).
