The visitors, led by the stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana, handed England their heaviest defeat courtesy of their 97-run win in the opening T20I of the 5-match series at Trent Bridge to go 1-0 up.
Regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur returned to the side to resume the leadership duties in the 2nd game of the series, replacing Harleen Deol in the starting 11 for India. The home side retained the same line-up that took the field in their previous game.
Amanjot Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues led the rescue act after early setbacks
England’s new ball bowlers reduced India to 31/3 inside the powerplay, including the big wickets of their skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and the vice-captain, the centurion from the previous game, Smriti Mandhana, justifying their skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss.
Amanjot Kaur joined Jemimah Rodrigues at the crease, and the duo bailed the visitors out of trouble with a massive and much-needed 93-run partnership for the 4th wicket, taking them closer to the 130-run mark. Lauren Bell provided the much-needed 4th breakthrough by sending Jemimah Rodrigues back to the pavilion in the 15th over of the innings, courtesy of a brilliant take from Sophia Dunkley at cover point. She completed her 13th half-century (63 off 41 balls) before getting dismissed.
India eventually posted a strong total of 181/4 in their quota of 20 overs, courtesy of a late flourish from Amanjot Kaur (63* off 40 balls) and the wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh (32* off 20 balls), who also became the 2nd fastest to score 1,000 T20I runs in the process. Lauren Bell (4-0-17-2) yet again was the standout performer with the ball for England, while Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-30-0), Lauren Filer (4-0-42-1), and Emily Arlott (4-0-43-1) played their part with the ball for their side.
Indian spinners choke England to hand them their first WT20I defeat in Bristol
Chasing a massive total of 182, England got off to a similar start, as they were reduced to 17/3 in the 4th over of the run chase, courtesy of brilliant spells from the Indian new-ball bowlers, supported equally well in the field, putting the home side under enormous pressure, sending their top three back to the pavilion, including a big wicket of their skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt.
Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones joined Tammy Beaumont at the crease, and the duo led the recovery with a much-needed 70-run partnership for the 4th wicket, taking them closer to the 100-run mark. Another moment of brilliance in the field resulted in the dismissal of a dangerous Tammy Beaumont (54 off 35 balls) in the 12th over of the run chase, threatening to take the game away from India. She completed her 11th half-century in the T20I format before getting dismissed.
A crucial 22-run partnership for the 5th wicket between Alice Capsey and wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones took them past the 100-run mark. The home side was eventually restricted to 157/7 in their quota of 20 overs, falling 24 runs short of the target despite a late flourish from Sophie Ecclestone (35 off 23 balls), which was also her career-best score with the bat in the T20I format for England.
Emily Arlott (12* off 11 balls) and Amy Jones (32 off 27 balls) chipped in with crucial contributions with the bat for England. Shree Charani (4-0-28-2), Deepti Sharma (4-0-30-1), and Amanjot Kaur (3-0-28-1) were the top performers with the ball for India, while Arundhati Reddy (3-0-16-0) played her part with the ball for her side.
Amanjot Kaur was awarded the Player of the Match for her career-best score (63* off 40 balls) with the bat, rescuing India from a precarious position in the game alongside Jemimah Rodrigues. She also picked up the crucial wicket of the in-form opposition skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt in her spell (3-0-28-1) with the ball for her side, playing a crucial role as India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
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