The fans at Dharamshala witnessed a thrilling contest when
the hosts took on England eves on Tuesday in a must-win game. Winning the toss
and electing to field first Charlotte Edwards and co. did a wonderful job in
restricting the hosts to 90-8 in 20 overs. Apart from Harmanpreet Kaur (26 runs
off 25 balls), the other Indian batswomen looked listless as they failed to
pick up gaps and hit the odd boundaries. Heather Knight was the pick of the
bowlers, finishing off with envious figures of 3-15 in four overs. She caught
the hosts in her spin web, not allowing the home team to score off her bowling.
After the batting debacle in the first innings not many
would have expected the match to go down the wire. It was some fantastic Indian
bowling accompanied with electrifying fielding that helped India’s cause. The
Women in Blue held on to their catches and fielded brilliantly to claim a
couple of run outs as well. The English team got off to a flying start when
they quickly moved on to 2-42 in 5.4 overs. Seeing the start, everybody had
written off India’s chances of winning the game. But Mithali Raj and her girls
didn’t lose hope till the very end. They made a strong back with the spin twins
Ekta Bisht (4-21) and Harmanpreet Kaur (2-22) running through the middle order.
There was tension mounting in the visitor’s dugout as the hosts reduced them to
8-87 in 17.5 overs. A rare dropped catch by Raj at covers off Veda
Krishnamurthy’s bowling dashed India’s hopes of winning the match. Anya
Shrubsole hit the winning runs to see her team winning the nail biting cracker by
two wickets.
Heather Knight was declared as the Man of the Match for her
match-winning bowling display. Since the hosts have won just one out of three
games, they will hope that England beats West Indies on Thursday and India comprehensively
defeats West Indies on Sunday, which will give them the outside chance of
qualifying for the knock-outs.
Brief Scores:
India Women 90-8 in 20 overs (M Raj 20, H Kaur 26; H Knight 3-15, A Shrubsole
2-12) lost to England Women 92-8 in 19 overs (T Beaumont 20, N Sciver 19; E
Bisht 4-21, H Kaur 2-22) by 2 wickets
source: www.cricketcountry.com
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