England women 119 for 6 (Beaumont 29, Patil 2-13, Deol 2-13) beat India women 118 for 6 (Mandhana 58, Raj 30*, Cross 2-18) by one run
Smriti Mandhana smashed it around for a half-century, but Mithali Raj failed to provide the innings the impetus it needed at the end as India, needing just three runs in the last over – bowled by Kate Cross – to win the third T20I against England, fell short by one run.
It wasn’t a big chase, just 120 runs, after the Indian spinners had done well to keep the England batsmen quiet in the first half. But the runs still needed to be scored, and India needed Mandhana to provide the thrust after successive failures.
The captain lived up to her billing with a 39-ball 58, but the back-up act never quite arrived the way it needed to. Raj, batting at No. 4, did score an unbeaten 32-ball 30, but could only watch from the other end as Cross dismissed Bharati Fulmali and Anuja Patil in the final over, and the strike just didn’t turn. Only one run came off the last ball, faced by Shikha Pandey, and England had sealed a series whitewash.
Harleen Deol failed again at the top for India, but with a sedate Jemimah Rodrigues by her side, Mandhana took on the England bowling, showing a particular liking for Linsey Smith’s left-arm spin. She hit Smith for two fours in the fourth over of the innings and, after hitting the only six of the innings off Kate Cross, took Smith for two more fours in the tenth over after the bowler had accounted for Rodrigues.
Mandhana duly completed her ninth half-century in T20I cricket, but couldn’t go on for much longer as Laura Marsh struck. Just how dominant Mandhana was can be gauged from the team score when she was dismissed: 87.
One wicket brought another for England as Deepti Sharma was run-out, but Raj kept India on course, and it seemed all-but-sewed-up when the final over started. But the strike never went to Raj, and the third T20I ended the way the first two had – in defeat for India.
The five-pronged Indian spin attack did extremely well in the first half. Deepti, who opened the bowling with her offspin alongside pacer Pandey, went wicketless, but Patil and Deol, the other two offspinners in the line-up, picked up two wickets apiece, while left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht and Poonam Yadav, the legspinner, got one each.
It didn’t start badly for England after they opted for first strike upon winning the toss, with Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont giving them a solid half-century stand. Wyatt, coming off knocks of 35 and 64 not out in the two England wins, struck 24 in 22 balls and Beaumont hit 29 in 27, but they slipped from 51 for no loss to 54 for 3 in under three overs and never really recovered.
Amy Jones did chip in with a 21-ball 26, but there was little of note from the other batsmen, and no real partnership of note, as England put up what seemed like a below-par total. But with the Indian batting showing little steel with the exception of Mandhana, it proved just enough.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo