India v England, women’s T20I tri-series, as it happened: Mandhana’s 62* guides India home

Signing off...

Spinners back among wickets, Smriti Mandhana continuing her wonderful form and the first win of this home season. A good day for Indian women’s team as they complete a 8-wicket win.

And the moment of the match? This stunning catch by @ImHarmanpreet of course! That’s it from us, join us soon for the ODIs vs England.

Improved fielding effort: Harmanpreet Kaur was almost gushing about India’s fielding effort today, which was in deep contrast to her mood after the defeat in their previous game.

The Field’s Zenia D’Cunha wrote ahead of this match about how Kaur’s comments put the spotlight on India’s fielding:

About a week back, India’s ODI captain Mithali Raj was asked a similar question on India’s fitness as compared to the other teams in the tri-series at a press conference. This was her response:

“Firstly, I don’t like to compare because Australia as a country is very different from India. We do have a trainer in place, the girls have really been working on their fitness. If you have noticed us in the World Cup, you know that we look very different now, we look are more agile and fitter and we are definitely on the road to becoming a far fitter team than we were in the World Cup.”

Fitness has been quite the buzzword for Indian cricket in the past few months. Even before the team began their packed season heading to South Africa in February, Raj had said that they had worked on fitness a lot in the seven-month long off season.

Read more here.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH: You won’t see many better catches than the one Harmanpreet Kaur pulled off today, running from long off and diving full length to pull off a blinder.

Wrapping up

England have a lot to work on (with their batting) and Heather Knight knows that, says she was happy with their powerplay effort but lost her way after that.

‘This win is big for us, because we have won after a long time, that’s what we discussed in the team meeting that we shouldn’t be losing for these many matches. Our fielding was good, and everyone contributed. I love fielding (on her catch). Wicket looked a bit slower in the previous match, we saw that and planned accordingly. Knew we had to be patient in the run-chase’: Harmanpreet Kaur sums it up.

Player of the match is Anuja Patil: ‘Whenever I get a chance to play for India, I want to do well. If I want to make it to the ODI squad, I need to stay in the middle for longer’

So that’s it, from India’s point of view for the tri-series. The final is on Saturday. For India, it’s a 3-match ODI series against England starting on April 6th.

India win by 8 wickets - 108/2 after 15.4 overs: Win by 8 wickets, with 26 balls to spare and with Smriti Mandhana playing some ridiculously good shots. Good way to end the tri-series and India win for the first time in this home season after 6 defeats. Mandhana finishes on 62 off 41 balls, Kaur 20 off 31 balls.

After 14 overs, India 91/2 - FIFTY FOR SMRITI MANDHANA! Take a bow, Smriti. Gets to the landmark with an exquisite cut past point.

After 12 overs, India 79/2 - need 29 from 48 balls: Harmanpreet would do well not to play too many dot balls. Even against a part-timer in Wyatt, there are 5 dot balls. Does get one boundary to make up for it - sort of.

After 10 overs, India 71/2 - need 37 from 60 balls: We could just stare that Mandhana pull shot all day. Such excellent timing! Alice drops it just short, the elegant opener swivels with nonchalance, lofts it over square leg for the first six of the innings! What. A. Shot. She moves on to 39 off 22 balls.

After 9 overs, India 61/2: Kaur and Mandhana are steadying the ship. The opener has moved to 32 off 19 balls, still maintaing a very healthy strike rate. A sedate start from Kaur though, on 7 off 13 balls. But this would do for India today, just need to make sure they don’t lose a wicket here and expose the middle order. No boundaries in the last three overs after the powerplay ended.

End of powerplay - India 49/2: Hazell has her second in as many overs Jemimah Rodrigues hits it flat & straight to Farrant at mid-off. She goes for 7, no repeat of her effort from the previous match. India would do well not to lose too many wickets here, the target might just start getting a little tricky especially in the middle of a losing streak.

After 4 overs, India 39/1 - Raj gone, Mandhana going strong: India lose their first wicket and it’s Mithali Raj, who was timing the ball well but couldn’t find the gaps. Gone for a 15-ball 6, couldn’t clear mid-off. But Mandhana is going strong at the other end, finishing that over with two fours - the last ball, a delightful backfoot punch through cover! DELIGHTFUL.

Farrant’s third over was errant. (Sorry!) Four wides in that over, as she struggled with the line.

After 2 overs, India 25/0 - an eventful over by Katie George: Smriti Mandhana is off to a typically blistering start! Two pull shots followed by a cut past point as she starts off with a hattrick of fours. And not satisfied with that, she goes for another big shot off the last ball, miscues it and Beaumont puts down a sitter at square leg.

After 1 over , India 9/0: Mithali Raj is back at the top of the order with Smriti Mandhana. Solid start for India, aided by five wides by Farrant followed by a neat square drive by Mithali for four.

INNINGS BREAK: The spinners had a field day and it all started for England with Danni Wyatt’s wicket.

Danni Wyatt’s wicket: 59/2 after 6.5 overs.
Last wicket: 107/10 after 18.5 overs.
Lost 9 wickets in 12 overs for 48 runs.

End of England’s innings - 107 all out in 18.5 overs: India dismiss England for 107! Farrant trapped LBW by Patil who takes her third. What an all-round bowling & fielding performance from India, making the most of another opportunity in the series to impress.

The story of the innings has been the spinners who have accounted for 9 of the 10 wickets to fall.

After 18 overs, England 107/9: The ninth England wicket has fallen as Taniya Bhatia notches up another good dismissal - her third of the match so far. Deepti Sharma gets her second, Fran Wilson out on 12 off 20. This has been a dramatic collapse by England.

After 17 overs, England 103/8: What. A. Catch. By. the Indian captain! This is a skier. Harmanpreet runs a good distance from long off, dives full-length, holds on to it one-handed by the tips of her fingers, inches from the ground... Hazell cannot believe she has been caught! She’s out on 3 to Patil,

After 15 overs, England 97/7 - Poonam and Radha strike again: Well, well. The spinners have spun a web around England. They were 96 all out yesterday are seven down at the same score, losing wickets in a cluster. Another good catch by Jhulan off a mistimed sweep as a great spell by Poonam Yadav comes to an end. Radha from the other end gets Katie trapped in the crease with an arm ball. Plumb LBW.

After 13 overs, England 92/5 - Radha Yadav strikes! Regular wickets in the middle overs from the spinners. What India have been missing for a while now. Good all-round stuff today. The latest is Radha Yadav, the 17-year-old has been central to the wicket celebrations so far today and now she finally has one off her own bowling. Heather Knight (11 off 12), is gone another good catch from keeper Taniya Bhatia as Knight was trying to cut.

After 11 overs, England 85/4 - Sciver gone: Anuja Patil has the big-hitting Nat Sciver caught behind by Taniya Bhatia! And quite the catch, she holds her position despite Sciver shaping to reverse sweep and a thin edge is taken sharply. Good phase for India this. Sciver was starting to look dangerous. The run-rate is still good for England, but the bowlers have pulled it back well.

After 9 overs, England 73/3 - Poonam strikes: Comes into the attack and gets a wicket soon after. The legspinner has not had the best of times in the home season so far, but she removes Beaumont, who finds Jhulan Goswami - taking a running catch at square leg and throws the ball up in delight. Sciver is the new batter and she plays one of the shots of the tournament in the 9th over off Deepti, a short-arm jab through midwicket for four - such quick hands!

After 7 overs, England 60/2 - BIG WICKET: Deepti Sharma’s persistent line & sharp reflexes give her the crucial breakthrough. Wyatt was looking dangerous once again (30 off 22 balls) but she perishes trying to take on Deepti, hits one right back to the bowler. Sharp catch by the Indian spinner!

End of powerplay, England 54/1 after 6 overs: Spin from both ends to end the powerplay as Anuja Patil and Radha Yadhav come in to bowl. Expensive overs though. Patil concedes 11 in her over that once again starts with with two boundaries off the first two balls - both lofted shots straight down. Radha concedes a boundary off the second ball and a six off the last - Wyatt is at it once again! Has raced to 30.

After 4 overs, England 29/1 - Vastrakar strikes: Nine runs from that over but a productive one for India as Amy Jones is dismissed. Clever thinking too, as she bangs one in short after a good length ball was mistimed through midwicket for four. The pull-shot is top-edged to Mithali at short midwicket. Couple of boundaries to start and end the over.

After 3 overs, England 20/0: 11 runs of that Goswami over, as England get into the groove. Amy Jones, especially, who starts the over with two consecutive boundaries - one over cover and one past mid-on.

After 2 overs, England 9/0: A shaky first over by Pooja Vastrakar. She gets that away shape that she usually does but can’t control the line as she starts off with a couple of wides. Harmanpreet almost takes a stunner off the 5th ball, diving forward at mid-on but it’s a near-miss - it pops out in the last minute. The over ends with a boundary over third man for Danni Wyatt.

After 1 over, England 1/0 - maiden for Jhulan to start with it: A solid start for India as Jhulan Goswami gives away only 1 leg bye in the first over. That control she has in full view! Hitting the offstump channel right away with a strong off-side field.

10:00 am: All set then, after the national anthems... Jhulan Goswami with the new ball.

09:55 am: Heather Knight says she is batting first to make amends for their poor performance against Aussies yesterday (England were bowled out for 96 and the Aussies romped home). Harmanpreet Kaur says this game is important for India as well keeping WorldT20 in mind.

09:50 am: Pooja Vastrakar, one of the youngsters who has impressed for India in this home season.

09:40 am: Playing XIs. Looks like India are unchanged for this one - no experimentation.

0930 am: TOSS TIME. And it’s England who have won the toss. They will be batting first, and India wouldn’t mind chasing, one thinks.

09:25 am: There’s not much left for India to play for in this series having lost all of their matches so far, but a win against a top side like England could really give the team morale a boost for the rest of the season. That’s what is at stake for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co as they take the field for a final time in this T20I tri-series.