England are sitting pretty atop Group B in the T20 World Cup after beating India by 11 runs, all but sealing their place in the semi-finals.
Both sides remain in pole position to progress to the knockout stage, but the winner of the group is likely to avoid facing Australia in their semi-final – a significant advantage.
Five days after being sold for £320,000 in the Women’s Premier League Action, Nat Sciver-Brunt underscored her worth by hitting a 41-ball half-century, fronting England’s rescue operation after they found themselves 29 for three in the fifth over at the hands of Renuka Singh Thakur.
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“She’s unbelievable,” said Sophie Ecclestone. “She’s so calm at the crease.
“For her to keep scoring runs like she does for England is crucial to us trying to win this World Cup.”
Renuka finished with a career‑best five for 15, while Smriti Mandhana – who had bagged the top price in Monday’s auction, £340,000 – made a decent dent in India’s target of 152, smashing 16 runs off Katherine Sciver-Brunt’s second over and bringing up a 40-ball half-century with a sweetly struck six.
Katherine Sciver-Brunt did go on to take two solid catches, snaffling a skyer from Shafali Verma at mid-on before dropping back to long-on to see off Jemimah Rodrigues, as England’s spinners gradually choked the Indian chase.
When Harmanpreet Kaur took a wild swing at a turning ball from Ecclestone, sending up a catch to Alice Capsey at cover, India were 62 for three in the 11th and in trouble; when Mandhana was caught at long-on a ball after bringing up fifty, with 47 runs needed from 24 balls, the game was as good as won.
Richa Ghosh (47 not out) had English nerves jangling, powering 19 runs from the final over after Katherine Sciver-Brunt was inexplicably tasked with bowling it, but the total proved too big.
After spells of rain on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, the Gqeberha air had remained thick with moisture as the game got under way, underlining India’s decision to field an extra swing bowler, Shikha Pandey.
But it was the world’s leading practitioner of the art, the 27‑year‑old Renuka, who left England exposed early on with a spell of menacing inswing. Danni Wyatt bagged a first-ball duck, nicking off to a diving Ghosh behind the stumps; while Capsey looked clueless against an in-ducker that snuck behind her bat and bowled her.
Renuka’s third over yielded a third scalp: Sophia Dunkley, who had earlier tried and failed to whip out a scoop shot against the right‑armer, moved across her stumps to give herself room to drive, only to watch Renuka’s inswinger take out her leg stump.
But England refused to be cowed, helped by some poor back-up bowling from the India spinners. Nat Sciver-Brunt shared a 51-run partnership with Heather Knight, before Amy Jones (40 off 27) and Ecclestone pursued “JonBall” to the end.
“We spoke today about the fact that we’ve not really had much time in the middle,” Ecclestone said. “We just needed to come into the game and do what we do best and that’s hit boundaries, and keep playing the fearless cricket that Lewy [coach Jon Lewis] wants us to play.”
Knight was dismissed limply, sending a Pandey full toss straight into the hands of Shafali Verma at cover, while Deepti Sharma had Nat Sciver-Brunt caught at short third in the 17th. But in her next over Deepti had to suffer the indignity of being smashed for sixes by Jones and Ecclestone, as England progressed to a winning total of 151 for seven.
