England women outclass India women in first Twenty20 in Barsapara

India's woes in the shortest format of the game continued as they suffered their fifth straight loss in Twenty20 Internationals during the first game against England at Barsapara, Guwahati. Tammy Beaumont's attacking fifty and a wonderfull spell of bowling from Katherine Brunt and Linsey Smith helped England register a 41-run win and take a 1-0 lead in the series. Beaumont was well assisted by Heather Knight as she smashed 40 off 20 balls to propel England to a healthy total. India won the toss and chose to bowl but they were undone by a solid opening stand of 89 from Danielle Wyatt and Beaumont. Both shared a partnership of 89 in just 11.3 overs and it took Shikha Pandey to break the stand. After getting Natalie Sciver cheaply, Beaumont shared a 59-run stand for the third wicket. Knight, in partciular, was severe on Arundhati Reddy as she smashed the bowler for five consecutive boundaries in the 18th over. After smashing Deepti Sharma for her sixth boundary, Knight departed for 40 but her onslaught helped England reach 160/4.

In response, India started well with Sciver and Anya Shrubsole conceding nine and 11 runs respectively. Having contributed with the bat, Beaumont chipped in with the ball by getting rid of debutant Harleen Deol for eight. That brought about a terrible collapse from which India never recovered.

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Smriti Mandhana, who was the in-form player for India in the recent New Zealand series and ODIs against England, holed out to long on off the bowling of Linsey Smith for 2. Jemimah Rodrigues fell in the same over for 2 and their fate was sealed when Mithali Raj fell to Kate Cross for 7. With Veda Krishnamurthy struggling to get going, India managed just 46/5 in 10 overs and the asking rate was over 10.

Arundhati Reddy and Shikha Pandey only delayed the inevitable as India slumped to a big loss. Having been whitewashed 0-3 recently in the series against New Zealand, India's woes in the shortest format continue, following their loss to England in the semi-final of the ICC World T20, 2018 which was held in the West Indies.

The second Twenty20 International will be played at the same venue on March 7 and England will be hoping to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• India has lost five consecutive Twenty20 Internationals since 2018 World T20.
• India were whitewashed 3-0 in the series against New Zealand.
• India lost in the semi-final of the ICC World T20 in 2018 in West Indies.