Clinical India take early lead

India Women tour of England, 2026

India put on a clinical show with both bat and ball to defeat England in Chelmsford and take an early lead in the T20I series. India overcame a poor start to post a commanding 188/7 before restricting England to 150/8, prevailing by 38 runs.

Opting to bowl first, England made a dream start when Lauren Bell struck twice in the opening over, removing stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. However, a disastrous over from Issy Wong, which included five wides and three boundaries from Yastika Bhatia, cost 27 runs and helped India regroup. India amassed 73/2 in the Powerplay.

Yastika took 14 deliveries to move from 40 to 50, while Jemimah Rodrigues batted briskly, smashing debutant Tilly Corteen-Coleman for a six over mid-off to bring up her half-century. India reached 120/2 after 12 overs. The century stand was broken in the 14th over when India lost both set batters in three deliveries. A handy cameo from Deepti Sharma helped India finish close to 190.

India then nailed the bowling Powerplay. Sophia Dunkley threw away a start and Alice Capsey edged behind to give Kranti Goud her second wicket. England managed only 43 in the Powerplay.

Amy Jones and Heather Knight attempted to up the ante, with Jones reaching a 32-ball fifty. At the halfway mark, England needed 104 runs. Tight overs from Kranti and Arundhati Reddy piled on pressure, leading to Shree Charani breaking the partnership. Nandni Sharma struck off successive deliveries, including the key wicket of Jones. England added just 30 runs from their final five overs.

Brief scores: India 188/7 in 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 69, Yastika Bhatia 54; Lauren Bell 3-34) beat England 150/8 in 20 overs (Amy Jones 67; Nandni Sharma 3-34, Kranti Gaud 2-24) by 38 runs.