The spin duo of Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma scripted India’s dramatic comeback with tidy death over spells that helped the visitors level the series with an eight-run win over England in the second women’s T20 International. England, who needed 33 runs off 30 balls with six wickets in hand, crumbled under the pressure generated by Indian spinners who were complemented well by their fielders. Shafali Verma’s 48 off 38 balls had allowed India to post 148 for four after being put in to bat.
Offie Sneh Rana defended 14 runs in the final over to cap off an impressive bowling effort from the spinners. Leggie Poonam ended with figures of two for 17 in four overs and Deepti one for 18 in four overs. The England innings saw India effecting four run outs. The series decider will be played on Wednesday.
England were in the driver’s seat for the major part of the chase and had reached 52 for two in the first six overs despite losing Danielle Wyatt and the in-form Nat Sciver cheaply. Sciver was run out in a rather interesting fashion as wicket keeper Richa Ghosh ran back to effect a direct hit after failing to collect a widish delivery. In contrast to India’s innings, the loss of early wickets did not affect the innings’ tempo as England batters kept getting the boundaries.
