England beat India by 4 wicket for their first win of the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 at Mount Maunganui.
Charlie Dean was instrumental in dismissing India for 134 -their lowest score since the 2005 final- before Heather Knight and Nat Sciver overcame early chasing hiccups to help England home.
The holders were a team transformed in this game after three successive defeats. Their decision to bowl after winning the toss paid dividends when Anya Shrubsole sent Yastika Bhatia back for eight and Mithali Raj for one. Deepti Sharma’s run-out for naught made things worse for India who were left three down with 28 on the board.
That brought together Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, who both scored centuries and forged a record-breaking 184-run partnership in India’s last match against the West Indies.
There were no such heroics against England as Kaur became Dean’s first victim for 14 before Sneh Rana fell two balls later to give Dean a double wicket maiden.
Mandhana managed 35 before being judged LBW as India slumped to 71-6.
Richa Gosh and Jhulan Goswami stuck together to add 33 runs to the total before eventually falling before Dean completed her best ODI figures of 4 for 23 by removing Meghna Singh.
A 135 runs target proved anything but a breeze for the defending champs as Danni Wyatt’s poor start to life as a World Cup opener continued. She was dismissed for 1 before Tammy Beaumont was given out LBW for Goswami’s 250th wicket in ODIs.
Nat Sciver then survived a bobbling ball hitting the foot of her wickets without the bails falling. She made use of her second life, putting on 65 runs with Heather Knight before she was dismissed by Vastrakar for 45 from 46 balls.
England continued to chip away at the score and a late flurry of wickets did not trouble them much as Heather Knight remained unbeaten on the other end. She did not get a chance to add to her 53 not-out as Sophie Ecclestone clubbed a four to ensure England beat India by 4 wickets for their first win.
