ENG W vs IND W ODIs | Deepti, Jemimah and Sneh play key roles as India beat England in opener

‌Brief score: ENG W 258/6 (50) [Sophia Dunkley 83(92), Alice Davidson-Richards 53(73); Sneh Rana 2/31(10)] lost to IND W 262/6 (48.2) [Deepti Sharma 62*(64), Jemimah Rodrigues 48(54); Charlie Dean 2/52(10)] by four wickets.

India Women started the ODI leg of their England tour with a four-wicket win over the hosts at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Thursday. Deepti Sharma starred with an unbeaten half-century during the chase after Sneh Rana led a disciplined bowling attack to restrict England Women to 258/6 in their allotted 50 overs.

Opting to bat first, England Women started on the wrong note, losing in-form openers Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont in pacer Kranti Goud’s first two overs, respectively. But skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt (41) and Emma Lamb (39) reconstructed the home side’s innings, reaching 55/2 at the end of the powerplay. The pair added 71 from 87 balls for the third wicket as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur went to Sneh Rana in search of a dismissal. The introduction of the off-spinner worked wonders for the visitors as she sent back both the set batters in the space of nine balls. But Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson-Richards scored contrasting half-centuries to keep the Indian attack at bay in their fifth-wicket stand of 106 runs. Dunkley was the aggressor, top-scoring in the match with a 92-ball 83, which included nine fours, while Davidson-Richards worked hard for her 53 in 73 balls with only two fours during the knock. All-rounder Sophie Ecclestone came up with an unbeaten cameo of 23 from 19 balls as the hosts scored 76 runs in the final 10 overs to go past the 250-run mark. Sneh finished as the pick among the Indian bowlers with impressive figures of 2/31 in 10 overs, while rookie pacer Kranti also finished with two wickets.

India started their pursuit promisingly with the opening pair of Smriti Mandhana (28) and Pratika Rawal (36) adding a run-a-ball 48 before the former departed as the visitors ended at 52/1 after the first 10 overs. Though Pratika was involved in another useful partnership with Harleen Deol, her dismissal triggered a mini-collapse as India slipped from 94/1 to 124/4. But Jemimah Rodrigues and all-rounder Deepti Sharma brought the Women in Blue back in the reckoning, adding 90 runs in 86 balls, before pacer Lauren Filer dismissed Jemimah two runs short of a deserving half-century. The Mumbai batter’s 54-ball innings was studded with five fours and when she walked back, the team still needed 45 runs in 51 balls. However, Deepti continued in the same vein at the other end, bringing up her fifty in 52 balls in the next over. She hit three fours and a six and remained unbeaten on 62 off 64 balls as India went past the hosts’ score to reach 262/6. Her seventh wicket partnership of 33 off 23 balls with Amanjot Kaur, who scored a 14-ball 20, sealed the deal in the visitors’ favour with 10 balls to spare.