What a thumping start to the series by India Women! A complete all-round show has seen them crush England Women by a whopping 97 runs in the series opener at Trent Bridge.
The star of the night was none other than Smriti Mandhana, who lit up the day with a sensational knock, bringing up her maiden T20I century in trademark style. The second innings belonged to debutant Nallapureddy Charani, who announced herself on the international stage in this format with dream figures of 4/12.
It was a forgettable outing for England, who were thoroughly outclassed in all departments. But the series is far from over. We now head to Bristol for the 2nd T20I on Tuesday, 1st July. For now, this is Pritam Dey signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide who, along with scorer Bishal Mandalbrought all the updates of this clash. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world. BYE BYEπ
Smriti Mandhana (POTM & India Women Captain): "Yeah, for sure it took a long time for me. I got 70s and 80s but failed to get a hundred in this format. I spoke to my teammates about this that it's high time I get a century and I am really happy to get my first hundred in this format out here.
I wanted to hit it with the wind. I was timing the ball really well and wanted to take full responsibility for my team. Harleen batted really well today. Harman unfortunately missed out at the last moment but with the way Harleen stepped in today was simply brilliant.
Yeah, the bowlers bowled really well. The spinners bowled slower through the air and made full use of the conditions. Credit to the bowlers who did a fantastic job.
The catching was brilliant and to start with the catch by Richa Ghosh was simply outstanding. The fielding today was really good. We want to continue doing well for the rest of the series. Happy with the overall performance today."
Player of the Match: Smriti Mandhana
Nat Sciver-Brunt (England Women Captain): "India are a world-class side. We didn't bowl the way we wanted to. We didn't back ourselves in the field as we did against West Indies.
We would like to take the catches. Things didn't go our way. Some things to work before the next game.
I guess when you are chasing 200, you have to keep going as a batting side. Everyone coming in had a great intent. I thought we tried to play too square and gave too many chances.
I guess try and get on strike and get back on strike and try to hit a boundary every over.
We execute at times really well with the ball. We had the energy at the back end of the innings. The momentum we had at the end of the powerplay with the bat, it's a five-match series and we will look to come back stronger."
10:06 PM IST & 5:36 PM Local Time: Time for the Post-Match Presentation!
Lowest all-out Totals for England vs India in WT20Is: 96/10, Mumbai, 2010 107/10, Brabourne, 2018 113/10, Nottingham, 2025, Today*