ENG-W vs IND-W: Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia help India take 1-0 lead in Chelmsford

India women beat England women by 38 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series on Thursday, May 28, at County Ground, Chelmsford. After being put in to bat first, India posted a good score of 188/7 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of half-centuries from Yastika Bhatia (54 off 40) and Jemimah Rodrigues.

For England, Lauren Bell (3/34) emerged as the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul. In reply, the hosts were restricted to 150/8 in their 20 overs, with only Amy Jones (67 off 48) scoring a lone half-century.

Earlier in the day, India were rocked early in their innings as Lauren Bell removed both openers, Smriti Mandhana (0 off 1) and Shafali Verma (2 off 3) in the first over itself, leaving the visitors on 7/2 after the first over. Seeing their team in trouble, Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues stitched a 126-run stand for the third wicket off 76 balls to bring India into the driver’s seat.

Following their dismissals, a cameo from Deepti Sharma (22 off 13) helped India get to 188 after a lower-order collapse that saw them score just 55 runs in the last 39 balls while losing five wickets. In the second innings, India got off to a great start with the ball as Kranti Gaud (2/24) removed both openers, Sophia Dunkley (16 off 10) and Alice Capsey (6 off 5), cheaply.

However, a 64-run stand for the third wicket between Amy Jones and Heather Knight (21 off 24), helped England stabilise the innings. While Jones toiled hard to keep the required run rate under control, Knight failed to get going and eventually fell to Shree Charani.

Two overs later, debutant Nandni Sharma got the prized scalp of Jones and England were eventually restricted to 150/8 in their 20 overs. Meanwhile, after India's commanding win in the series opener, the two teams will next meet in the second T20I on Saturday, May 30.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Jemimah Rodrigues was adjudged Player of the Match for her match-winning half-century. She brought up her fifty in 31 balls and played a brilliant innings of 69 (40), laced with ten fours and a six. 

Turning Point

Amy Jones was determined to take England over the line with her gutsy half-century. She completed her fifty off 32 balls and was threatening to take the game away from the Women in Blue. However, she ended up hitting Nandni Sharma straight to Shafali Verma at deep mid-wicket and her dismissal became the major turning point of the match.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Smriti Mandhana (India Women):  

Losing two wickets in the powerplay was not ideal. Credit to Yastika who came back after 8 months. She took the game away. Jemi doing Jemi things. We should have scored 10 more runs though. Fielding second is an advantage. We had lot of inputs from Jemi and Yastika. All the bowlers were executing their plans. They were calm under pressure. Nandni is a character. She has a lot of fire. She picked up crucial wickets and bowled some crucial overs.

Losing Captain, Charlotte Dean (England Women):

Two early wickets. But they kept scoring runs despite those early wickets. They had wickets in hand. Played really well. Proud of the effort in hot conditions. Bell bowled well at the start and the death. Disappointing not to get over the line. Reminiscent of the game we had against NZ in Canterbury. Jones was brilliant. Today, the difference was that massive partnership. We are working on a younger middle-order.