England won a one-run thriller to clean sweep the series 3-0 against India in Guhawati. England needed a big effort to defend the seemingly small total, after two clinical wins under their belt in the series. With 3 needed off the last over, Kate Cross managed to depart Fulmali and Patil to register the win, before which looked distant.
India replaced Radha Yadav to Anuja Patil and England brought Sophie Dunkley in the place of Katherine Brunt to rest her before Sri Lanka tour.
Having chosen to bat first, England started strongly as Danni Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont built a partnership of 50 runs in 7 overs. Wyatt hit Sharma for a massive six after which Beaumont took on Shikha Pandey for two consecutive boundaries. Anuja Patil picked up Wyatt for 24 runs with her second delivery. Nat Sciver bagged her second duck of the series when she got beaten by Poonam Yadav who opened her kitty. Beaumont lost her wicket in the subsequent over beaten by Patil as Bhatia stumped her out.
Heather Knight and Amy Jones held the ground to contribute with a few boundaries. Knight fell to Bisht, followed by which Winfield lost her wicket to Deol, who registered her first international wicket. Mandhana dropped Jones on 18 off the bowling of Deol after which Jones hit two boundaries of the next two balls and fell on the fourth one Jones as Shikha took the catch at 26 which left England 93 for the loss of 6 wickets.
England brought up their hundred with 11 balls to spare in the innings. Shrubsole and Dunkley made a joint contribution of 26 to help England register a total of 119. After a good powerplay, England tumbled in the middle overs to Indian spinners before Jones and Dunkley helped them reach a respectable total.
Nat Sciver started off the second innings with 3 wides followed by which Mandhana hit a boundary on Shrubsole’s first ball. Deol again had a soft dismissal hitting the ball straight to Winfield. Rodrigues stuck to play a supporting knock to Mandhana’s blistering half-century. Mandhana hit a few boundaries and a six to put up a 49 run stand with the Mumbai batter. Smith trapped Rodrigues into a leg before to dismiss her at 11. Soon, the Indian captain got to her 9th half century of her T20I career with a boundary to Sciver.
Marsh knocked out Mandhana for 58 runs off 39 balls, a knock which included eight fours and one six. Sharma got run out at 4 as Raj held her nerves and played well for her 30 including four fours. India was in the winning position with 3 runs needed off the last over.
Although with the experienced campaigner Raj was stranded on the non-striker’s end, Kate Cross built the pressure on one-match-old Fulmali which resulted in her wicket after playing three dot balls. Following which, Anuja Patil got out on the golden duck as 3 runs were required off the last delivery. Shikha Pandey hit the hattrick bowl for a single as England registered their win by 1 run.
“It was all about sticking to our strengths and holding our nerves in the end,” said Kate Cross, who was named the player of the match for her spectacular last over.
India’s stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana said, “The way match folded out really disappointed with the girls played at the end. I expect to put a better show.”
“I think we don't have anything for the next one or two months and definitely every one would like to work on their weakness and take the positives from this tour. We as a unit needs to improve as a team, we look to improve ourselves and put up a better show,” she also added.
With this win, England have whitewashed India in the T20I series 3-0. England will play Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka from 13 March 2019.
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