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WICKET! Charani run out (Capsey 2) 1 (India 140-9)
Not quite sure what happened there but she was out by the length of a hallway rug when Ecclestone broke the stumps.
WICKET! Patil b Ecclestone 6 (India 139-8)
Fancies a slog-sweep, loses her leg stump
19th over: India 137-7 (Patil 5, Reddy 1) India need 32 from 6 balls Scoreboard pressure tells. Patel picks up a boundary with a reverse sweep but with Ecclestone to bowl the final over, the die is cast.
WICKET! D Sharma c KNight b Bell (India 132-7)
Deepti swings into a slower ball, but can only deliver it to Knight at short fine.
17th over: India 130-6 (Deepti Sharma 1, Reddy 0) India need 39 from 12 balls A two-wicket over from Dean, superbly bowled, with a Harmanpreet swot over midwicket for six in between.
WICKET! Harmanpreet c Jones b Dean 28 (India 130-6)
A slower ball, a thick edge, a zinging catch.
WICKET! Ghosh c Gibson b Dean 8 (India 123-5)
Ghosh drops to one knee and slogs but straight to Gibson who takes a great catch on the move.
17th over: India 122-4 H(armanpreet 21, Ghosh 8) India need 49 from 18 balls India are running out of road here. Just one boundary from Smith’s over, a sashay from Ghosh through the offside.
16th over: India 114-4 H(armanpreet 19, Ghosh 2) India need 55 from 24 balls A wicket and just five singles – Kemp has the golden touch today.
WICKET ! Rodrigues c Dean b Kemp 1 (India 112-4)
Ushered in by Bhatia’s retirement, but can’t do much with her chance, top edges to cover.
WICKET! Bhatia retired out 33 (India 109-3)
Harmanpreet loses confidence with her partner and directs her to the dressing room.
15th over: India 109-2 (Bhatia 33, Harmanpreet 17) India need 60 from 30 balls Dean gambles and brings back Bell. Just three from the first two balls, then Harmanpreet swivels and pulls six from a short one. Just one from the next and Bhatia can’t do anything with the next two. At the same time, England were 110-3.
14th over: India 98-2 (Bhatia 31, Harmanpreet 8) India need 72 from 36 balls Harmanpreet can’t beat the circle. Ecclestone tightens the screws. Just one from it.
13th over: India 97-2 (Bhatia 30, Harmanpreet 8) India need 72 from 42 balls Charlie Dean brings herself back on. Rearranges he field between balls. Just a single from the first three balls and a frustrated Bhatia springs at the next ball and chips it to Dean who drops the ball as she sinks to the earth. She’s gutted but just two from the over.
12th over: India 95-2 (Bhatia 29, Harmanpreet 7) India need 74 from 48 balls Harmanpreet bulldozes Smith’s second ball, a half volley, through extra cover for four. Three more singles, excellent running from India.
11th over: India 88-1 (Bhatia 20, Harmanpreet 1) India need 81 from 54 balls A legside wide from Gibson brings two, then a wristy four speared to the rope by Bhatia and another to the third man boundary.
10th over: India 78-2 (Bhatia 20, Harmanpreet 1) At the same stage England were 78-2 – and England have got rid of the dangerous Mandhana and Verma. Eight from Ecclestone’s over, including a Bhatia four through point.
WICKET! Mandhana c Capsey b Kemp 32 (India 70-2)
Mandhana fancies a third boundary from the over and tries to shift four off her hip but gets a top edge where Capsey is waiting.
9th over: India 70-2 (Bhatia 14) England are rapidly into position between overs. Here comes Freya Kemp, flush with success, for her first over. Bhatia misses the first ball, and is dropped at mid-on by Ecclestone who gets down to the ball but can’t clutch on with her fingers. India run a single and immediately Mandhana pulls four and then backs away off side and slams four more down the ground. A wicket, just in time for England.
8th over: India 60-1 (Mandhana 23, Bhatia 13) Charlie Dean brings herself back, hair in a bun, sunglasses on. To her left, spectators bustled across the empty forecourt. India can’t get her away and just five singles from the over. England pulling this back now.
7th over: India 55-1 (Mandhana 19, Bhatia 6) Gibson starts her spell with three dots, but Bhatia then crashes four through long on stylishly.
6th over: India 49-1 (Mandhana 19, Bhatia 6) Just six from the final over of the power play from Smith, including four more through point from the in-touch Mandhana.
5th over: India 43-1 (Mandhana 14, Bhatia 5) Dean calls for Ecclestone, but India take 11 from the over. Mandhana plays an ugly slog and the ball flies skywards but lands just out of reach of a chasing Smith. Then the sweetest, calmest drive, singing to rope between cover and extra, then a leg-side sweep for four more.
4th over: India 32-1 (Mandhana 4, Bhatia 4)Bhatia off the mark with four through the covers in Dean’s first over.
WICKET! Verma c Gibson b Bell (India -1)
A slower ball from Bell, clubbed by Verma and plucked from the skies by Gibson at cover! England needed that, Verma was in the zone.
3rd over: India 27-1 (Mandhana 3, Bhatia 0) Elegant variation by Verma who throws in a fantastic swot on one leg for four and then a thick edge over third. Now the wicket -Bell is relieved, high fives all round, Verma miserable, sloping off in her grandpa’s slippers.
2nd over: India 17-0 (Mandhana 2, Verma 14) Linsey Smith, so missed at Chelmsford, into the action. Verma shuffles into position and slams four over extra cover. Two balls later she repeats the shot and polishes the over off with a pin-point booming drive over mid-off.
1st over: India 5-0 (Mandhana 2, Verma 2) Lauren Bell, swallowing up ground with those long legs. Four singles and a wide are all India have to show for it.
An enthusiastic hurry-up by Freya Kemp at the end has given England a good chance in this game on a slow pitch. Just grabbing a drink, back very soon.
India need 169 to beat England
20th over: England 168-5 (Kemp 39, Gibson 11) Brilliant by Kemp, less good by Nandani who serves up a selection of full tosses. A symmetrical six, two, four, four, two, six – the last sailing over long on. Kemp runs off with 39 off 14 balls, and England have something to play with.
19th over: England 144-5 (Kemp 15, Gibson 11) An expensive over for India, three fours in it, finishes as Gibson tonks a full toss to the rope, fielder Charani done by the spin as she tries to get into position to collect it
18th over: England 129-5 (Kemp 10, Gibson 2) England have their two big hitters in position to finish the innings with gusto. Sue Redfern turns down an Indian lbw appeal from her control room. Gibson is hit on the leg sweeping, but the ball would have comfortably shimmied past off stump.
WICKET! Capsey b Patil 28 (England 126-5)
Capsey licks her lips at a half volley but doesn’t nail it and instead loses her off stump.
17th over: England 123-4 (Capsey 28, Kemp 7) Kemp is off the mark with a cover drive for four, the catalyst to fast-foward the innings? Eight from the over.
WICKET! Knight c and b Charani (England 116-4)
Knight is foxed by Charani, dollies a leading edge back into her palms like an airy fairy cake straight out of the baking tray.
16th over: England 115-3 (Capsey 27, Knight 18) Patil is on the money – just five from the over.
And an email from Stephen Nichols – hello!:
“I think we’ve picked our best available team for this match, and now is the right time to do that. The squad rotation and people management we’ve seen this summer so far has been very wise - we’ve found out that Linsey Smith is missed greatly if not playing, and the backup players are decent, but this is our best XI.
“If NSB is fit for the World Cup, who does she replace? And if she does play, we’ll expect her to provide match-winning batting, 4 overs of tight seam bowling, AND the captaincy? The team has warmed up for the World Cup under Charlie Dean - keeping her as captain for the tournament would retain what is working well, and would allow Nat just to bat. What does everyone else think?”
Interesting! I’m not sure NSB is going to be fit to bowl actually, at least to start with, in which case the juggling of captaincy and batting should be ok.
15th over: England 110-3 (Capsey 24, Knight 16) A beautiful slower ball from Nandni Sharma to start the over. Athers purrs appreciatively “it’s good for two reasons, the arm comes over at the same place so it is difficult to pick, and she also gets a lot of overspin on the ball.” Two singles, and then Knight sweeps over her shoulder for four down to deep fine leg. Good running from Knight and Capsey. Ten from the over.
14th over: England 100-3 (Capsey 22, Knight 8) A reverse-sweeping Capsey starts Deepti’s over with a four, and Knight follows four balls later, reaching forward with a stylish tweak of the wrists.
13th over: England 88-3 (Capsey 15, Knight 2) A second important wicket for Charani – Jones had looked in nice touch. In marches Heather Knight, who suddenly has players breathing down her neck for that number five spot. Four singles from the over.
WICKET! Jones c Harmanpreet b Charani (England 84-3)
Shuffles legside, looks handsome, but Harmanpreet is waiting.
12th over: England 84-2 (Jones 28, Capsey 14) Deepti Sharma takes off her wide-brimmed sunhat, but keeps her sunglasses, as she rolls in for her third over. She’s brought down her speeds to suit the slow pitch – the TV has her bowling in the low 40smph. Capsey glides two past the diving cover, then Jones reverse-sweeps four.
11th over: England 75-2 (Jones 22, Capsey 11) Neat and tidy from Reddy and just four singles from the over.
10th over: England 71-2 (Jones 20, Capsey 9) Time for drinks at the half-way point of England’s innings. They’ve picked things up nicely after a sedentary start, and Capsey has already clubbed four through the covers for four.
9th over: England 62-2 (Jones 18, Capsey 2) Jones is lucky to survive a top-edge that drops just out of reach, and a real blow for England to lose the impetus that DWH always brings.
WICKET! Wyatt-Hodge c Mandhana b Charani 29 (England 57-2)
Wyatt-Hodge gives herself room and slashes at Charani, but a cracking catch by Mandhana at short third - who loses her sunglass as she hits the deck– puts a full stop to a promising innings.
8th over: England 56-1 (Jones 14, Wyatt-Hodge 29) Clever play from Jones, who sweeps Deepti Sharma into the gap and a chasing, diving, Verma can’t catch it before it huffs over the rope. Good running between the wickets from these two.
7th over: England 47-1 (Jones 8, Wyatt-Hodge 25) Wyatt-Hodge laughs in the face of broken nights, chips Patil up and over for four. Now Jones, shuffle, crack, like a woman dancing to avoid bees, goes similarly to the mid-off rope. 12 from the over.
6th over: England 35-1 (Jones 2, Wyatt-Hodge 20) Time for some Charani for the last over of the power play. Wyatt-Hodge picks up one gorgeous four, over extra cover with dancing feet, and a handful of singles to polish things off. Advantage India.
5th over: England 28-1 (Jones 1, Wyatt-Hodge 14) No. 3 Jones is off the mark immediately with a single, then DWH cuts stylishly for four, into the grass and away.
WICKET! Dunkley c Ghosh b Sharma 10 (England 21-1)
A sloth-like finger of doom from the umpire sends Dunkley on her way after she zigzags her body to cut, whispers an edge and is very neatly caught behind.
4th over: England 21-0 (Dunkley 10, Wyatt-Hodge 9) Time for spin already, with Shreyanka Patil. Wyatt-Hodge is eager for runs but can’t quite get enough welly or broad enough bat to reach the rope.
3rd over: England 14-0 (Dunkley 9, Wyatt-Hodge 3) Dunkley picks up the first boundary of the day with a huge yahoo down the ground for six. A couple of singles to complete the over. And England tick along. They might want to turn that tick to a gallop.
2nd over: England 6-0 (Dunkley 2, Wyatt-Hodge 2) Sharma’s first ball is dropped by Rodrigues at point as Dunkley cuts with static feet. She only had to leap a little but somehow let it slip through her fingers, perhaps surprised by the fierceness of the stroke. She waves her hand in apology and Sharma smiles with sad eyes.
1st over: England 2-0 (Dunkley 0, Wyatt-Hodge 0) Reddy with the new ball, running towards the tall white blocks of flats at one end of a full-looking Nevill Ground. Just a couple of wides to start things off.
The flags are waving, the vuvuzelas blowing. Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge bounce gloves and jog into the middle
Raf Nicholson is tanning her ankles in Bristol and reports lasagne and profiteroles in the press box, “the food of dreams,”
“Gorgeous sunshine. Ground looking busy. England did a special cap presentation earlier to nine year old Evie, who also had a keeping master class from Amy Jones before play. She needs to watch her back because Evie looks pretty good to me .”
India XI - Harmanpreet and Shreyanka Patil return
Harmanpreet, who was rested for the first T20, returns and fancies the pitch looks dry and so they play the extra spinner, Shreyanka Patil. Bharti Fulmali and Kranti Gaud miss out.
India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Sree Charani, Nandni Sharma.
England XI - Smith and Wyatt-Hodge return
England have bolstered their batting, with new mum Danni Wyatt Hodge returning. Linsey Smith is also back. Issy Wong and Tilly Corteen-Coleman miss out.
England XI: Sophie Dunkley, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones (wk), Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell.
England win the toss and will bat
Charlie Dean: “it feels a good day to get out there – it looks a bit of a belter. We were in a brilliant position with both bat and ball at the half way stage, we need to be more ruthless.”
Harmanpreet Kaur: would have batted too. Happy with the team and the balance pre World Cup.
Preamble
Hello! The World Cup is now less than two weeks away and England have just two games left to primp and preen their strategy. Out-thought and out-bowled by India in the first T20 at Chelmsford, they will want to do better today in Bristol – stand-in captain Charlie Dean pinpointed “leaving ourselves too much to do at the end,” as a flaw to fix.
Play will start at 2.30pmBST, the toss and the teams at 2pm. Do join us.
