CHENNAI: Going into the World Cup, England probably had the toughest draw in their first four games — Australia, West Indies, South Africa, and India. Having lost the first four, they were almost down and out. The senior bowlers weren’t picking wickets, openers not scoring runs, fielders dropping catches; they were coming close, but falling short in almost every match.
Ahead of the India match, they have to win all four and need some luck as well for them to progress. Step one was beating the runner-ups from the previous edition just like they did in the final in 2017. And who better to turn to than the hero from that night — Anya Shrubsole — for early wickets. If the seamer removed Bhatia gave confidence, Sophia Dunkley holding on to a sharp catch boosted it up and when Kate Cross caught Deepti Sharma short of the crease with a direct hit, England were up and running.
India were down to 28 for three with Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur trying to play yet another rescue act. This time, however, the nemesis came in the form of Charlie Dean, the off-spinning all-rounder. Kaur, Sneh Rana fell one after another. Ecclestone trapped Mandhana, Dean came back to get rid of Pooja Vastrakar as well.
Richa Ghosh and Jhulan Goswami rebuilt a bit, taking India past the 100-run mark, but England bowlers tightened the screws as they were all out for 134. Dean was the pick of the bowlers, taking four wickets for just 23 runs.
In reply, India started well as Meghna Singh struck on her first ball to get rid of Danielle Wyatt and Jhulan Goswami trapping Tammy Beaumont on the pads, reducing England to four for two. But Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver made sure they did not lose any further wickets.
Knight held forte at one end while Sciver was at her free-flowing best. She played her shots all across the parts, racing her way into the 40s. Having added 65 runs with Knight, Sciver top-edged Vastrakar, falling short of her half-century by five runs. With Amy Jones joining her, Knight kept the momentum going after Sciver’s dismissal.
She brought in the cover drives, paddle sweeps, reverse sweeps, and back-foot punches to up the ante. Jones, at the other end, went for some big shots but got out against the run of play. Knight brought up her 23rd ODI half-century in 66 balls with Dunkley taking on the bowlers at the other end.
Meghna picked up a couple of wickets, but England eventually chased down the total in 31.2 overs with four wickets to spare, keeping their campaign alive. India, on the other hand, will have to win two of their next three games to progress to the knockouts. They will play Australia at Eden Park, Auckland on Saturday.
Brief scores: India 134 all out in 36.2 ovs (Mandhana 35; Dean 4/23) lost to England 136/6 in 31.2 ovs (Knight 53 n.o; Meghna 3/26)