Canterbury: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s magnificent 143 not out delivered India their first ODI series victory in England since 1999 as the Women in Blue crushed the hosts by 88 runs in the second match.
With the win at the St. Lawrence Ground, India have attained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. India had won the first ODI by seven wickets.
Batting first India set England a mammoth target of 334. In reply, the hosts were shot out for 245 with pacer Renuka Singh taking four wickets for 57 runs in her 10 overs. England lost their first three wickets inside eight overs before Alice Capsey (39) and Danni Wyatt (65) forged a 55-run partnership to steady the innings.
Wyatt also scored 65 together with stand-in skipper Amy jones (39) but none of the batters were able to convert the starts into a mega score. Charlotte Dean (37) was the last England batter to provide some resistance but that wasn’t enough as England were bowled out inside 45 overs.
Earlier, Harmanpreet rekindled the memories of the 2017 World Cup with a blistering 143 not out as India amassed their highest-ever overseas total of 333 for 5.
Harmanpreet smashed 18 fours and four sixes en route her 111-ball knock and also enjoyed a fine 112-run stand for the fourth wicket with Harleen Deol (58 off 72 balls).
She also added 50 with Pooja Vastrakar (18) and another 71 runs in four overs with Deepti Sharma (15 not out) for the unbroken sixth wicket stand.
However, it was in the last three overs in which Harmanpreet literally took the game away from England’s grasp as a total of 334 being chased in a WODI looks improbable even though the pitch being a batting belter.
In the last three overs, Indian team scored 62 runs, courtesy its skipper, who was in imperious touch while reaching her fifth hundred in WODIs.
Read: Harmanpreet Kaur sets Twitter ablaze with her fiery century
The innings had Harmanpreet’s trademark slog sweeps over cow corner which fetched him a couple of sixes while there were disdainful sixes over cover region.
With the pitch offering little help for bowlers, hitting through the line was very easy and England’s bowling attack did suffer a bit with only off-spinner Charlie Dean (1/39) ending with respectable figures.
The worst sufferer was debutant left-arm seamer Freya Kemp, who did decently till the end of her seventh over in which she had conceded only 28 runs.
However, in the last three overs, Harmanpreet hit her for boundaries to every single corner as Kemp ended with nightmarish figures of 1/82 at the end of 10 overs. It was the worst performance by an England women’s team debutant.
Such was Harmanpreet’s dominance that Deepti Sharma, who still holds the individual record (188) by an Indian batter in WODIs, was more of a spectator during their sixth wicket stand.
With PTI inputs
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