IND W vs ENG W, 3rd ODI, Review: All-round team effort leads India to a series victory

Deepti Sharma won the Player of the Match award while the prolific Smriti was named the Player of the Series.

Published - 12 Apr 2018, 16:15 IST | Updated - 12 Apr 2018, 16:15 IST

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India Women have defeated England Women in the third and final ODI of the series by 8 wickets and have won the series by 2-1. While the bowlers strangled the visitors in the first innings, it was the top order in the chase which closed out the game without any hiccups. Mithali Raj finally got some runs under her belt to break her lean phase and won the game for India. However, the series was owned by Smriti Mandhana who batted like a champion throughout the series and ruled the charts with her efforts.

Earlier in the morning England skipper Heather Knight opted to bat first after winning the toss as their opening batters in form Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont aimed to provide a good start to the team. But the veteran Jhulan Goswami got the hosts off to a sensational start in the decider by sending back both of them by the end of the 7th over of the innings.

Jones’ knock brings England back

Then the skipper Knight and Amy Ellen Jones then joined hands to resurrect the innings and added 63 runs for the third wicket. But just when they were threatening to play more shots Deepti Sharma scalped the former even as Poonam Yadav castled the dangerous Natalie Sciver. At 99/4, England needed some quick runs but the Indian spinners put brakes on their run-scoring much like they did in the first ODI. Meanwhile, Jones looked a class apart and did the bulk of the scoring as none of her partners could get hold of the conditions.

She batted gamely despite the wickets kept on falling at the other end But she was hard done in the end as she missed out on her ton eventually being dismissed on 94 off 119 deliveries with 7 fours and a massive six. Her knock though propelled England to a competitive total of 201 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. India were prolific with the ball in hand as they never let England batters off the hook. The trio of spinners were magnificent sharing six wickets between them.

Clinical chase

The girl in form Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues began the tricky chase for the hosts even as the latter was dismissed by Anya Shrubsole in the very first over. Veda Krishnamurthy was promoted to number 3 on the day only for the experiment to fail as she could muster 7 and succumbed to the same bowler. The skipper Raj then came to the middle as Mandhana looked in absolutely no trouble while playing classy strokes.

Her punches off the back foot were brilliant as the front foot drives were pleasing to the eyes as well. While she played her shots, Mithali played second fiddle to her and got her eye in slowly but steadily. India were coasting in the chase but were dealt with a severe blow as Mandhana was she could not bear the scorching heat in the middle. She was retired hurt for a well-made 53 and had set her team to a series win over England.

Deepti Sharma then came in and replicated Mandhana by attacking the bowlers and never gave a sniff to the opposition. Both Mithali and Deepti completed their respective half-centuries and made sure there were no collapses like the first match. The game was done and dusted as Deepti sealed it with a six off Alex Hartley and jubilation of the series victory began in the Indian camp. While Raj remained unbeaten on 74, Deepti smacked aggressive 54 runs in an unbeaten century partnership.

Deepti also won the Player of the Match award while the prolific Smriti was named the Player of the Series. The hoe season for Team India is over as they will enjoy some rest now.