Sciver does a Knight; England record second victory of T20 tri-series

Natalie Sciver did a Heather Knight on Friday (February 7) as the right-hander’s 50 off 38 balls steered England to a four-wicket victory in the T20 tri-series against India at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. With this win, England move up to the table in first place having four points from three games. It was perfect revenge for England after they succumbed in front of India in the tournament opener.

Chasing 124, the English batters were in a spot of bother losing their top three – Amy Jones (one), Danielle Wyatt (14) and Katherine Brunt (eight) -- with just 28 runs on board in the sixth over. But Sciver did the star turn, just like Knight did during their Super Over victory against Australia last weekend (February 1).

The 27-year-old, Tokyo-born Sciver paced her innings well with the help of six boundaries and a single hit over the ropes to take England on course towards victory before she was caught and bowled by Rajeshwari Gayakwad with England needing 10 runs to win. Fran Wilson (20 not out) and Lauren Winfield (2 not out) did the rest with seven balls to spare.

Unlike in their last match against Australia last weekend (February 2), the Indians were much better on the field on Friday with Arundhati Reddy and Radha Yadav taking blinders to dismiss Jones and Knight respectively. Gayakwad once again proved to be the best among the bowlers with three for 23, while Deepti Sharma with her spell of 4-0-33-0 leaked runs.

Dives, ricochets and Deepti Sharma has Katherine Brunt run out in a fortunate manner #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/0JIfiwqRyr

— #7Cricket (@7Cricket) February 7, 2020

Earlier, the English bowlers tightened the screws on the Indian batting line-up after Smriti Mandhana gave them a brilliant start. Madhana’s 45 off 40 balls studded with seven fours and a six was clearly the highlight of India’s innings but once she was dismissed off Brunt (2/23), things went downhill for Harmanpreet Kaur-led side. Shafali Verma (eight) was once again dismissed for single digits at the top of the order.

On Friday, the Indians started off brilliantly cruising to 61/1 in 9.1 overs. But a brilliant work behind the stumps from England ’keeper Jones cut short Mandhana’s innings five runs from a deserving half-century. Thereafter, the Indians kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with Anya Shrubsole (3/31) being the wrecker-in-chief which included the double blow scalping Kaur (14) and Veda Krishnamurthy (two) in the same over.

Young Jemimah Rodrigues too got a start but once again failed to capitalize perishing for a 20-ball 23. However, 15 runs in the last over, took India to 123/6, giving something to defend for the bowlers. The Indians were also to blame themselves for not rotating the strike in between and it’s high time for them to realize the significance of practicing the act in the lead up to the T20 World Cup starting February 21.

Brief scores: India 123/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 45; Anya Shrubsole 3/31) lost to England 124/6 in 18.5 overs (Natalie Sciver 50; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 3/23) by four wickets. PoTM: Anya Shrubsole