India women vs England 1st T20I Highlights: Danielle Wyatt, Nat Sciver-Brunt shine as ENGW beat INDW by 38 runs

India women vs England women Highlights: England women defeated their Indian counterparts by 38 runs on Wednesday to clinch the first T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Danielle Wyatt (75) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (77) scored fifties to lead England to 197 after they were asked to bat.

Shafali Verma’s fifty was the only silver lining of India’s run chase as most of the other batters failed to convert starts. Sophie Ecclestone 3/15) was the pick of the bowlers as India were restricted to 159/6.

India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh(w), Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Thakur Singh, Saika Ishaque

England XI: Danielle Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight(c), Amy Jones(w), Freya Kemp, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Bell, Mahika Gaur

Preview: India have been in good form coming into the three-match T20I series against England. The Harmanpreet Kaur-captained side won the gold medal at the Asian Games, triumphed 2-1 in the bilateral series in Bangladesh and then made it to the final of the triangular series in South Africa, with West Indies the third side.

World No 2 England, meanwhile, arrive on the back of a disappointing 1-2 loss to Sri Lanka 1-2 at home.

But England can take heart from their positive record against India. At home, in nine matches against England, India have only two wins with their most recent victory coming more than five years ago in March 2018. India’s overall record against England is also of concern given they only have seven wins to show from 27 matches.

India’s record at home in T20Is isn’t something to be confident about either. The last time India won a T20I at home was more than two years ago in March 2021 when they defeated South Africa in Lucknow. Since then, India have lost four and tied one while playing at home. On the whole, India only have 19 wins from 50 T20Is at home with 30 losses and one tied game.

With the Women’s T20 World Cup slated for September-October 2024, this series is an opportunity for both teams to work on their preparations for the edition in Bangladesh.