India women defeated England in the second T20I by eight wickets at Derby to level the series 1-1. Sneh Rana picked 3 for 24 while Smriti Mandhana smashed an unbeaten 79 off 53.
The 17-year-old Freya Kemp put on a mighty show to dig England out of the hole in the second T20 international versus India, but Smriti Mandhana was in no mood to stop whatsoever as she powered India to a dominant victory. With this win, India leveled the series, with a match to go.
As it happened, England’s stand-in skipper Amy Jones won the toss and chose to bat first. But things went downhill straightaway as Deepti Sharma had Sophia Dunkley stumped on the first ball of the second over. In the very next over, Renuka Singh had her reward for pitching the ball up and looking for movement as Danni Wyatt (6) edged one to Sneh Rana at first slip.
England were pegged back further with an excellent fielding display in the same over. Alice Capsey crunched a delivery through covers. Radha Yadav from sweeper cover sprinted, putting a full-stretched dive and threw the ball back in no time. Capsey looking for a third was caught way short as England were reduced to 16 for 3 in three overs.
Jones and Bryony Smith looked to rebuild the innings, adding 32 runs for the fourth wicket before Smith holed out off a tossed-up delivery by Rana – courtesy of a stunning catch by Yadav while running in from long on. Jones, trying to up the run rate, was the next to be dismissed as she missed a reverse sweep off a full delivery by Rana.
Having lost half the side for 54, Kemp joined Maia Bouchier, and the duo looked to be aggressive despite the critical position they were in. Kemp blasted anything in her arc and raced away to 24 off just 12. The Indian bowlers then adjusted their lines and tried to stay away from Kemp’s natural hitting zone, and it worked to an extent.
Kemp and Bouchier did an excellent job to recover the innings, adding 65 runs for the sixth wicket. Bouchier, who scored 34 off 26, was Rana’s third victim as she stumped trying to go hard at the back end. Kemp, who had been kept quiet for a while, smashed a six and a four in the final over by Yadav to complete her maiden T20I fifty.
Kemp hit three sixes and three fours in her innings as she became the youngest player to score a T20I fifty for England. England managed to post 142 on the board, and while it was a great one, Kemp and Bouchier gave them a fighting chance.
Shafali Verma and Mandhana came out with positive intent and scored six boundaries in the first four overs. The fifth over was a real game-changer as the first innings hero Kemp was put under the pump. Kemp bowled a no ball on her very first attempt, which Mandhana put away for a four. She smashed two more boundaries in the next three balls before Verma joined in the act, taking 19 runs off the over.
The world no. 1 ranked bowler Sophie Ecclestone tried to bring England back in the game, catching Verma off her own bowling on the last ball of the powerplay. Freya Davies then cleaned up Dayalan Hemalatha with a beauty. India needed 66 off 68 balls at this stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur coming in.
Mandhana continued her onslaught and smashed 13 fours in her knock of 79 not-out in 53 balls. Kaur played a good support role with 29 off 23 as the visitors mowed down the target in just 16.4 overs.
Mandhana was named the ‘player of the match’ for her blistering knock. The two teams will lock horns in the series-deciding third T20I at Bristol on September 15.
Brief scores
England women 142/6 in 20 overs (Kemp 51*, Bouchier 34; Rana 3/24, Sharma 1/21) lost to India women 146/2 in 16.4 overs (Mandhana 79*, Kaur 29*; Ecclestone 1/22) by eight wickets and 20 balls remaining.
