England vs India women: Glenn, Dunkley shine as England crush India by 9 wickets

Chester-le-Street: England women made light work of the Indian team in a rampant 9 wicket win at Chester-le-Street, Durham on Saturday. Unbeaten 61 runs from Sophia Dunkley saw India off in the chase of 133 runs in the opening T20I.

Earlier, leg spinner Sarah Glenn picked up 4 wickets at the expense of 23 runs for her best T20I figures to limit India to just 132 runs.

Dunkley made the most of the reprieves that came her way to record her second fifty and highest score in the format, posting partnerships of 60 and 74 alongside Danni Wyatt and Alice Capsey.

With things evenly poised at one stage, England got the job done with seven overs to spare. Having knocked England out of the Commonwealth Games in their own backyard, India succumbed to a nine-wicket defeat.

Amy Jones took up the captaincy duties in the absence of Heather Knight. The 31-year-old is filling in for Nat Sciver, who withdrew from the series to focus on her mental health. Jones put India in to bat after a delayed toss due to rain.

India started brightly under Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma – moving to 30 runs in the fourth over. But this brisk beginning was not maintained.

This flow of runs was curtailed in the middle overs and India needed a 24-ball 29 run cameo from Deepti Sharma to post a respectable and defendable total.

In reply, England, too, started strongly. They were 60/0 in the seventh over with Dunkley and Danni Wyatt in the middle. Sneh Rana got rid of Wyatt for 24 runs from 16 balls.

Dunkley could have been dismissed three times during the powerplay but got lucky. She was caught behind on just the third ball, only for the third umpire to find that Renuka Singh had overstepped. Then Shafali Verma put down a straightforward catch at mid-off on 15.

On the first ball after the powerplay, Dunkley got away with being caught past the bowler Sneh Rana.

Even as Wyatt departed, Alice Caspey joined in and ensured there were no hiccups. She twice hit clean sixes down the ground to finish unbeaten on 32 off 20.

To make it a day to forget for India, Radha Yadav was helped off the pitch after hurting her shoulder while making a stop at backward point.

Like the men’s Test between England and South Africa, this contest, too, started with a minute’s silence as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II who passed away on Thursday.

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