Bowlers set up India's series-clinching victory

Led by an all-round display, India secured a comfortable six-wicket win over England at Old Trafford, on Wednesday, to secure a series-winning 3-1 lead in the five-match series. Chasing 127 for victory, India overhauled the total with three overs to spare.

Electing to bat, England made a slow start to their innings. It was in the third over, against Shree Charani, that Sophia Dunkley cut loose. She slapped the first ball through cover point for a boundary before clubbing a flighted delivery over cover for a six. Charani proved expensive in the first two overs, but ended up dismissing Danni Wyatt-Hodge.

Even as England kept finding boundaries, especially with Tammy Beumont taking on Sneh Rana, the lack of rotation of strike ensured that the scoring rate remained in control. The inability to push hard early on proved counterproductive as Radha Yadav squeezed the scoring rate in the second half, with the help of some fine fielding.

Attempts to press the accelerator proved futile for England. Wickets kept tumbling at a quick rate and England were reduced to 110 for 7 by the 19th over. A six each by Sophie Ecclestone and Izzy Wong in the last over helped England go past the run-a-ball mark, but it wasn't a competitive enough total.

If there were any hopes for England to make the chase stiff for India, it was blown away in the powerplay, with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma blasting from both ends in the powerplay. Within the first four overs, India moved to 45/0. England did control the scoring rate thereafter for a few overs, and even had Shafali caught at backward square leg, but the third half-century opening stand of the series had laid the foundation for a comfortable victory.

Soon enough, Mandhana also departed, getting an edge to the short third fielder, but India continued to remain strong. The senior pros, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues, ensured there was no panic as they rotated the strike with ease enroute to their 42-run stand for the third wicket. England struck twice in quick succession to dismiss Harmanpreet and Amanjot Kaur, but it offered little consolation to the hosts.

Brief Scores:England 126/7 in 20 overs (Sophia Dunkley 22, Tammy Beaumont 20; Radha Yadav 2-15, Shree Charani 2-30) lost to India 127/4 in 17 overs (Smriti Mandhana 32, Shafali Verma 31; Issy Wong 1-18) by 6 wickets