Mithali Raj played spectacular innings of unbeaten 75 while chasing the target and took India over the line in the third ODI against England in Worcester on Saturday.
India Women won the toss and decided to field first, in a rain-affected match reduced to 47 overs a side. Justifying the captain’s decision, India’s Shikha Pandey gave England an early blow by dismissing Tammy Beaumont on duck in the second over of the match. Lauren Windfield-Hill (36)and Heather Knight (46) stitched a 67-run partnership to get them back on track before Sneh Rana dismissed Winfield Hill.
Knight joined hands with Nat Sciver to add another 42 runs, but Harmanpreet Kaur broke the stand by dismissing the England skipper. The hosts stitched small partnerships but kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
The biggest blow for them was when Sciver, who was looking sublime and scoring at a brisk rate, got out courtesy of a spectacular catch from Smriti Mandhana in the deep. Sciver scored 49 off 59 balls and was looking to take the game away from India. England Women were reduced to 163-5 in 37.3 overs.
England managed to score only 56 runs after Sciver’s fall to finish on 219 in 47 overs. Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for India Women, picking up 3 wickets for 47 runs in her 10 overs. Deepti broke the back of England’s middle order with important wickets of Sciver, Amy Jones (17) and Sophia Dunkley (28).
Chasing the target of 220 in 47 overs, India got off to a very good start, with Shafali Verma (19) and Mandhana putting 46 on the board in 9 overs. Mandhana looked in glorious touch in her innings, playing some delightful shots. Her outstanding innings of 49 off 57 came to an end when Sarah Glenn trapped her LBW. India were reduced to 81-3 in 20.5 overs at the fall of Mandhana’s wicket.
Harmanpreet Kaur (16) joined the captain Mithali in the middle, and the duo stabilised the Indian innings with a 50-run partnership. Mithali stood in the middle like a rock while half the side returned back to the pavilion with 164-5 on the board in 39.2 overs. India needed 55 runs to win in the last seven overs.
Captain Mithali, who looked to stabilise the innings earlier, picked her pace and started acceleration at the back end. Raj played the role of an anchor and a finisher in her terrific knock of 75 off 86 with the help of eight boundaries. This was the third consecutive ODI fifty for Mithali and she became the highest run-getter in the history of international women’s cricket, surpassing Charlotte Edwards.
It was only fitting that the winning runs came off her bat as Mithali guided the delivery through the square region for four to take India home with 3 balls left. Sneh Rana’s cameo of 22-ball-24 was also vital in India’s victory.
England’s Sophie Ecclestone was awarded the player of the series in this ODI leg for her 8 wickets in three games. Both the teams will now move on to the three-match T20I series starting from July 9 with the overall series scoreline reading 6-4 at the end of the ODI leg.
Brief Scores
England Women – 219 in 47 overs (Nat Sciver 49, Heather Knight 46, Deepti Sharma 3/47)
India Women – 220/6 in 46.3 overs (Mithali Raj 75*, Smriti Mandhana 49, Sophie Ecclestone 2/36) beat England Women by 4 wickets.
