/sportzpoint/media_files/63ea1b6f-a7ac-4b13-8b88-6ba2177321d7.jpg)
The Indian Women's Cricket team registered their first-ever T20I series win on English soil, after taking an insurmountable lead of 3-1 in the five-match series. In the fourth match of the series, the Women in Blue defeated England by 6 wickets with 18 balls to go to seal the series in Manchester.
Indian spinners set up the game for them. Tammy Beaumont's decision to bat first was struck by the Indian spin trio of Shree Charani, Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav. England could only reach 126/7 in the first inning, which India chased down easily.
What happened in the match?
India were chasing history after winning the first two games of the series. But England, one of the strongest teams in the world, looked in form after winning the last game.
However, Indian bowlers struck early, and Harmanpreet Kaur's plan to keep rotating the bowlers worked very well. Amanjot Kaur, Shree Charani, Deepti Sharma, and Arundhati Reddy all bowled one over each in the first four overs.
Shree was able to get the wicket of Danni Wyatt-Hodge (5) in the third over, while Sophia Dunkley (22) was dismissed by Deepti in the final over of the powerplay.
After the first two wickets, Tammy Beaumont and Alice Capsey tried to build a partnership for England. But once Radha Yadav got rid of the English captain in the 11th over, it was all about India after that.
Sophie Ecclestone, at the end, added a quick 16 from 10 balls to take England to 126/7 in the first inning. Radha Yadav with 4-15-2 was the pick of the bowlers for India. Shree Charani also picked up two wickets for 30 for the Indian team.
During the chase, Shafali Varma gave India a flying start with her 31 from 19 balls. Although Smriti Mandhana (32) was dismissed soon after that, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur (26), along with Jemimah Rodrigues, built a 48-run partnership to take India close to the total.
Eventually India won the match by 6 wickets with 18 balls remaining as Jemimah (24*) hit the winning runs for them.
Radha Yadav was named the player of the match.
Why is the ENG-W vs IND-W series win important?
The ENG-1 vs IND-W series was a stage rehearsal for the Indian Women's Cricket team as they will look to win their first-ever T20I World Cup next year in England.
So, the memories of winning their maiden T20 series here would definitely give them confidence when they come back to England next year.