For second time in 20 years! Nandni Sharma achieves huge record on debut as India beat England in T20I opener
India bagged their first T20I win at the County Ground, Chelmsford, in three attempts after Nandni Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia starred in their roles. The Women in Blue have taken a 1-0 lead against England in the three-match series.
Nandni Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia starred as India defeated England in the first T20I of their three-match series on Thursday, May 28, at County Ground, Chelmsford. Nandni sizzled with three wickets as she achieved a major milestone for India on her debut to power India to a 38-run win and help the team take a 1-0 lead in the series. In the process, she has become just the second Indian pacer to have taken three or more wickets on T20I debut.
India were without regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was rested for the series opener. The Women in Blue were in big trouble early after losing two wickets in the first over. But all of that did not stop the visitors from breaching England's Chelmsford fortress.
Jemimah, Yastika put up a huge stand
Jemimah (69) and Yastika (54) joined hands as early as the end of the first over and put the English bowlers to the sword, smashing them to all corners of the park. It all started when Yastika nailed four fours off Issy Wong's first over, the second of the match, which went for 27 runs as the England seamer erred in her lines to give away 10 extra runs.
That set things up for the visitors to keep churning out runs for fun as the two batters put up a 126-run partnership for the third wicket. This has now become the second-highest partnership for India women against England for any wicket in the format, behind only Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj's 129-run marathon of 2018.
Deepti gives the final push with bat
India lost both their set batters in a hurry in the 14th over of Charlie Dean, as Yastika was run out first while trying to take a quick single before Rodrigues was caught and bowled. However, Deepti took the baton on and assured the runs kept flowing as she smashed 22 from 13 balls to take India to 188/7.
Nandni and others did the rest
In what would be encouraging signs for India ahead of the T20 World Cup in a couple of weeks, Nandni Sharma made the most of her T20I debut. She scalped three wickets late in her spell to pin the already-struggling English side. England had lost two wickets in the powerplay, and the veteran Heather Knight made things worse as she laboured to 21 off 24 balls before Shree Charani removed her in the 14th over.
Knight and Amy Jones had put up 64 runs for the third wicket, but it was the latter who did all the heavy lifting as the former England captain struggled big time. Jones was later dismissed by Nandni in the 16th over before Danielle Gibson was removed for a golden duck, as any hopes of a chance were pinned down.
Deepti got Freya Kamp nicked behind before Nandni returned to clean Wong up, and England lost Sophie Ecclestone to a run out as India wrapped things up by 38 runs. This was England's only third loss in 15 T20Is at this venue, and Nandni became just the second Indian pacer after Soniya Dabir to take three or more wickets on T20I debut in 20 years since India played their first WT20I game in August 2006.
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