India women's Twenty20 jinx continues, lose second game to England

India women suffered their sixth straight loss in Twenty20 Internationals as they lost the second match against England at the Barsapara cricket stadium in Guwahati on Thursday. Smriti Mandhana, captaining the side for the first time, once again was undone by a poor batting performance as the team stumbled to 111/8. Danielle Wyatt hit the final nail on the coffin for India as her attacking fifty helped England win the match by five wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. England won the toss and chose to bowl and Mandhana looked to dictate the terms to the opposition. The left-hander launched Anya Shrubsole for two big sixes as India raced to 23/0 after two overs. However, Katherine Brunt got the massive wicket of Mandhana and from that point on, India's innings never got going. 

Brunt got the big wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues for 2 and the boundaries dried up, with India not scoring a boundary for close to six overs. England built the pressure and India buckled, losing Deeptyi Sharma for 18. Mithali Raj, playing in potentially her final Twenty20 International in this series, looked to steady the innings with a solid knock. After hitting medium pacer Kate Cross for a boundary, she looked to loft the bowler over long on but miscued the shot and fell for 20. Bharati Fulmali got India past 100 but in the end, they ended on 111/8. 

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In response, Tammy Beaumont and Wyatt got going quickly but Radha Yadav gave India some hope when she got rid of Beaumont for 8. Poonam Yadav struck and Ekta Bisht got two wickets as India stayed in contention for an upset. However, Wyatt continued strongly and notched up her fifty while Laura Winfield found the boundary on a regular basis. Her 29 off 23 balls had given England the impetus to push for the win and once she departed, England were just seven runs away from a win. 

Only five runs were conceded in the 19^th over but Wyatt sealed the deal with a boundary off Deepti Sharma as England achieved a wonderful victory. Speaking after the end of the match, Mandhana said the batting was not up to the mark. “It was a good wicket to bat on. With the way bowlers bowled, 15 more runs would have made a difference. Our bowlers did a good job of trying to defend this score,” Mandhana said. 

The final match of the series will be played on March 9 at the Barsapara cricket stadium and India will be hoping that they snap their losing streak.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Danielle Wyatt slammed an aggressive fifty in the Guwahati T20I.
• India has lost six consecutive Twenty20 Internationals.
• No Indian batter scored more than 20 in this match.