England joined arch rivals Australia in the historic ICC Stand-alone Women’s World T20 final with an eight wicket win over India at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound Antigua. Earlier, England bowlers, who were led brilliantly by captain Heather Knight, bundled out India for 112 and a match-winning partnership of 92* between Amy Jones and Natalie Sciver set up a thumping English win with 2.5 overs to spare.
A Mithali Raj-less Indian team opted to bat first against England on a slow Antigua pitch, in the second match of the day. It was a match that would determine who will join Australia in the historic Stand-alone Women’s World T20 final. Taniya Bhatia and the impressive Smriti Mandhana trotted out to the middle, opening the Indian innings. Mandhana (34) continued from where she left off against Australia hitting her hallmark boundaries in her expressive innings. She was the first wicket to fall
Team England celebrates an India wicket
after being softly caught and bowled by Ecclestone at the end of the power-play with the score on 43. Bhatia’s painstaking knock came to an end when captain Heather Knight picked up her first wicket of the match.
The Mumbai resident, 18-year old Jemimah Rodrigues looked solid during her stay at the crease, but she was brilliantly run out for 26 by Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones in the fourteenth over. Six-hitting machine Harmanpreet Kaur strolled out to bat and smoked one of her trademark maximums, but she was out to Kristie Gordon for 16. Gordon, who is playing in her second match, then kept things simple and removed Veda Krishnamurthy.
It was a collapse for match favourites India as their final seven batters were bundled out for 20 runs to leave the Asian giants in disbelief and out of playing the World T20 finals. Mandhana was the only batter that looked comfortable top-scoring with a 23-ball 34 and Rodrigues (26) was the other batter managing more than 20 runs in an ordinary batting effort. England bowlers came to the party with disciplined bowling from arguably the best batting unit in this tournament when they were restricted to 112 all out in 19.3 overs. England’s captain picked up 3-9 to put the Indian batters against the wall. She was supported by the young Kristie Gordon, who grabbed 2-20 and Sophie Ecclestone captured 2-22.
Chasing 113 for victory, England had no easy task with the all-out Indian spin attack making perfect use of the spin-friendly conditions in Antigua. Off-pinner Deepti Sharma and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav shared the new ball and it was not long for the latter to make inroads. Radha Yadav removed Tammy Beaumont for one in the second over with only four runs on the board. India had their strong belief of defending the small target with captain Kaur chopping and changing her bowlers to perfection. Kaur took a gamble that eventually paid off, sticking with Deepti Sharma for her third consecutive over in the power play. Sharma removed Danielle Wyatt for 8 with the score on 24-2. Amy Jones, the replacement wicket-keeper batter for Sarah Taylor, batted brilliantly with Natalie Sciever as the pair looked to bat deep into the innings and take their team across the line.
Amy Jones top-scored with an unbeaten 51 while Natalie Sciever top-scored with an unbeaten 54 to register a clinical England victory. Deepti Sharama and Radha Yadav were the only wicket takers with one wicket each.
