India beat England by seven wickets at Hove to take a 1–0 lead in the three-match ODI series; Smriti Mandhana reached 91 as the tourists chased 228 in 44.1 overs; Jhulan Goswami (1-20) was India’s bowlers’ choice; England’s Alice Davidson-Richards reached the first ODI of her fifty
Smriti Mandhana made a graceful 91 as India cruised to a seven-wicket victory over England in the first one-day international in Hove.
England, under deputy captain Amy Jones, won the T20 international series 2-1, but a clinical performance saw the tourists triumph in the first of three over-50 matches.
Early wickets from Jhulan Goswami (1-20) and Meghna Singh (1-42) put the home team under early pressure and despite Alice Davidson-Richards’ ODI maiden fifty (50th), England posted an under-par 227 -7.
India made light work of the chase with Mandhana putting up 96 with Yastika Bhatia (50 from 47 balls) and then 99 with captain Harmanpreet Kaur (74th) to help her team cross the line with 35 balls to spare.
The tone of the match was set early with a miserable opening spell from Goswami, 39, who is retiring after the third ODI at Lord’s on Saturday, in which she caught Tammy Beaumont (7) lbw after Meghna had eliminated Emma. Lamb (12) with short ball.
England finished the power play 26-2, but although India were making it difficult to score, Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey, on their debut, managed to rebuild with a position of 43.
The pair were beginning to find some rhythm with 18-year-old Capsey (19) showing glimpses of why she’s considered such an exciting talent with some eye-catching shots.
However, she fell to Sneh Rana after a fantastic diving catch from Kaur, who brought her down mid-wicket, and England’s momentum came to a halt.
Dunkley (29) survived two lbw criticisms before meekly hitting Harleen Deol to cover and when Jones was dropped by a Rajeshwari Gayakwad delivery that stayed low, the hosts were in trouble at 94-5.
Danni Wyatt was doing her best to keep the innings together and was scoring with more freedom than most of her teammates when India’s spinners took over, but Deepti Sharma tempted her with a sweeping shot and she struggled to hide her frustration. when the ball skidded. her under her bat to hit the stump of her leg.
From 128-6, Davidson-Richards and Sophie Ecclestone put up 50 for seventh wicket with the former playing a measured strike while the latter was quick to punish any loose deliveries.
Sharma broke the stands with another ball that fell too low to catch Ecclestone (31) lbw and although Davidson-Richards – who reached his half-century in the last over – and Charlie Dean (24th of 21) added an uninterrupted stand of 49 to finish the innings, it was India on top at the middle of the stage.
Kate Cross dismissed Shafali Verma in the second over of India’s chase (Dean made a mid-wicket flying catch) to give England early hope of defending such a modest total, but those hopes were soon dashed when Mandhana and Yastika they found their way.
With the home team unable to replicate India’s discipline in the early stages and captain Jones choosing to contain star bowler Ecclestone, the visitors quickly put themselves in a position of dominance which they would maintain throughout the innings.
Yastika had a couple of moments of good fortune with a glove behind Issy Wong’s leg that Jones could only spin around the post and then a couple of Davidson-Richards spike shots that didn’t go to the hand.
For the most part, though, the India No.3 was in good contact as she attacked the England bowlers as Mandhana batted with all the elegance and conviction we expect from such a fine player.
The two southpaws seemed to have England exactly where they wanted them for a while before Yastika got a little restless and, two balls into a 45-ball half-century, charged at Dean (1-45) and was brought down via of the gate.
Kaur came in and had the luxury of being able to play herself while Mandhana scored the other end, reaching her 24th ODI fifty.
The experienced pair from India managed the chase comfortably for the next 19 overs, but with just 30 needed for victory and a Mandhana century looking like a formality, the southpaw skidded a slower ball from Cross and was caught in the middle, nine racing under a sixth ton ODI.
With Mandhana out, England were able to squeeze India. That didn’t stop Kaur from hitting his 17th 80-ball ODI half-century, a compound stroke of the pattern.
Kaur made sure he never got nervous for his side, hitting the limits of Ecclestone and Davidson-Richards to ease the nerves and sealing the victory with a six from Davidson-Richards in the 45th.
England captain Amy Jones: “Disappointing. We didn’t get enough runs, that’s the main problem. Alice hit brilliantly up the middle and end to give us a chance. But we needed some wickets on the power play, we only got one and that’s where he fell short.
“We thought it was a trickier wicket but India played well and put us under pressure. Then losing regular wickets made it difficult to continue until we got that partnership with Alice and Soph. Regular wickets cost us.”
