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Smriti Mandhana's century and debutante Shree Charani's four-wicket haul powered India to a 97-run win over England in the first women's T20I at Trent Bridge. This is the worst defeat that England have ever suffered in the format. Mandhana smashed 112 in 62 balls, making her the first Indian to score centuries in all three formats of the game, while Charani returned figures of 4/12, the second-best figures for an Indian debutante in women's T20Is.
Mandhana captained the team in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stating just before the match that the latter had been rested as a precautionary measure. The board said that Harmanpreet had sustained a head injury during a warm-up match. India now lead the five-match series 1-0.
Mandhana and Harleen Deol power India's charge with the bat
Mandhana (112, 62 balls) and Harleen Deol (43, 23 balls) added 94 runs for the second wicket as India posted a commanding 210 for five after being invited to bat. England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt (66, 42 balls) played pretty much a lone hand for the hosts as they were skittled out for 113 all out in 14.5 overs. England had lost half their line-up in the first 10 overs with their score yet to reach 100.
Earlier, Mandhana ended up breaking the record for the highest score by an Indian in women's T20Is, previous held by her captain Harmanpreet who had made 103 at the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup. She gave the Indian innings some early impetus, making 77 runs with a struggling Shafali Varma (20, 22 balls), whose return to top-flight cricket after a gap of eight months was less than satisfactory.
Despite the latter struggling to keep up, Mandhana ensured that India got close tom the three-figure mark inside the first eight overs. After Shafali was dismissed Harleen Deol joined her captain and, unlike the latter's opening partner, managed to keep up. Deol was helped by the fact that she was dropped on 26 by Danny Wyatt-Hodge off off-spinner Alice Capsey near mid-wicket.
Although Mandhana kept smashing away, she rarely ever gave a similar chance for England. She kicked off the carnage with three boundaries off left-arm spinner Linsey Smith in the fourth over, and didn't take her foot off the pedal. Later, she also punished another left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone for two sixes in the seventh over as the Indian innings chugged along.
Mandhana brought up her fifty in 27 balls, and the next 50 came off just 24 balls. Mandhana soon went past 87, her previous best in T20Is, and touched the three-figure mark for the first time in her career that has 30 fifties. She reached the coveted milestone in style too, hammering pacer Lauren Bell for two consecutive boundaries.
Her knock is the highest for India in T20Is, surpassing Harmanpreet's 103. At the other end, Deol relied more on sweeps to fetch boundaries, using the general lack of direction of English bowlers on the day till she fell to Bell, who was England's most successful bowler (3/27).
Mandhana was eventually dismissed by Ecclestone but not before taking India to a position of strength. England tried to stage a late comeback as Bell removed Richa Ghosh (12) and Jemimah Rodrigues (0) in the 18th over but by then India were already closing in on the 200-run mark.
With agency inputs
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