India 188 for 7 (Rodrigues 69, Bhatia 54, Bell 3-34) beat England 150 for 8 (Jones 67, Nandani 3-34) by 38 runs
Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia struck important half-centuries before debutant Nandani Sharma claimed three wickets as India defeated England by 38 runs in the first match of their three-game T20I series.
India recovered from a difficult start where Lauren Bell removed both openers in the first over to leave the visitors 7 for 2. With captain Harmanpreet Kaur rested, Bhatia and Rodrigues rebuilt the innings through a century stand for the third wicket.
Playing her first T20I in two years, Bhatia made 54 from 40 balls, her maiden half-century in the format. Rodrigues faced the same number of deliveries for a composed 69. England, who had struggled with several fielding mistakes after choosing to bowl, managed to pull India back after the partnership ended. Deepti Sharma’s 22 from 13 balls was the only other double-figure contribution.
Amy Jones made a half-century from the unfamiliar No. 3 position and led a 64-run stand with Heather Knight. During the innings, Knight moved past head coach Charlotte Edwards to become England Women’s most-capped player across formats with 310 appearances. But Jones’s 67 from 48 balls was not enough to stop England falling short, as Nandani’s 3 for 34 gave India a timely boost with the T20 World Cup just over two weeks away.
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Bell Strikes Early Again
For the third match in succession, Bell struck in the opening over, this time dismissing Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Smriti, captaining in place of Harmanpreet, chipped the first ball, a half-volley outside off stump, straight to cover, where Charlie Dean completed the catch. Shafali then skied the final ball of the over towards mid-on, where Alice Capsey ran in and held a sharp diving chance.
Bell had also taken first-over wickets twice against New Zealand, striking with the first ball in the opening T20I in Derby and with the final ball of the second match at Canterbury, before being rested for the third game at Hove. Earlier in the ODI series against the White Ferns, she had taken three lbw wickets inside her first four overs in Cardiff.
Against India, though, some of Bell’s early pressure disappeared quickly. Issy Wong’s second over cost 27 runs through a mix of wides and aggressive strokeplay from Bhatia, who began her innings with intent.
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Bhatia Makes A Strong Return
Bhatia, playing her first T20I since April 2024 after knee surgery last year, looked immediately comfortable. She struck four boundaries in Wong’s wayward opening over and later hit Sophie Ecclestone for a powerful six over wide long-on.
She reached her half-century from 31 balls as India crossed 100 at the end of the 10th over. Alongside Rodrigues, she put on a 100-run stand from 58 deliveries, helped by fluent footwork, clean timing and loose England fielding.
Rodrigues completed her fifty by hitting debutant Tilly Corteen-Coleman for six down the ground. The partnership eventually reached 126 runs from 76 balls before it was ended by a combination of sharp fielding and poor judgement.
After Dean struck Bhatia on the pad, the ball rolled to short third and the batters attempted a single. Corteen-Coleman sent in a strong throw to the bowler, and Dean broke the stumps with Bhatia well short. Dean then ended the over by taking a sharp return catch to dismiss Rodrigues, giving England a chance to limit the total.
Wong Helps England Fight Back
Wong helped Corteen-Coleman claim her first T20I wicket with an excellent over-the-shoulder catch from backward point after Richa Ghosh reverse-swept and fell for 4.
Wong then took the ball in the next over and bowled Bharti Fulmali for 6 with a slower delivery that beat an attempted slog and came off the pads onto the stumps.
India were 148 for 6 in the 17th over, but Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy added a useful 39-run stand to lift the target. Bell later returned to remove Deepti, who pulled a short ball straight to midwicket.
Jones Leads England’s Reply
England moved Jones up the order as Maia Bouchier, who is not in their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, made way. Nat Sciver-Brunt remained injured, while regular opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge is expected to return from maternity leave from the second match of the series.
The hosts continued with Alice Capsey and Sophia Dunkley as their opening pair. The experiment had worked when Capsey scored a fifty in the first T20I against New Zealand, but both openers were dismissed cheaply on Thursday as England slipped to 37 for 2.
Jones had enjoyed success as an ODI opener against West Indies last summer, but she had not batted at No. 3 in a T20I since the rain-affected home match against the same opponents in 2020. She had little time in the middle during the New Zealand T20Is, batting only once for 1 not out, but made the most of her chance against India by finding gaps smartly and hitting nine boundaries.
Nandani Enjoys A Dream Debut
Jones’s dismissal, slog-sweeping Nandani to deep midwicket, started a mini collapse that England could not recover from. Nandani, the 24-year-old quick, was on a hat-trick when Dani Gibson holed out off the next ball, with Shafali again completing the work in the deep after also ending Jones’s innings.
Dean survived the hat-trick delivery, but Nandani struck again two balls later. Her slower ball beat Wong and crashed into off stump, giving the debutant her third wicket and leaving England with too much to do.
India went on to close out a 38-run victory and take the lead in the three-match series.
