Guwahati: With pride at stake, India batswomen need to make amends for their below-par show as the hosts eye a consolation victory in the third and final T20 International against England here Saturday.
After winning the ODI series 2-1, Indian women lost momentum and subsequently conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead against England.
The hosts endured a comprehensive 41-run defeat in series-opener before losing the second game by five wickets. The defeat in the second T20 was India’s sixth in a row in the shortest format.
India have been doing well in the 50-over format but they have plenty to ponder about with the T20 format with World Cup scheduled for early next year. India have now suffered two back-to-back series defeats. Before losing to England at home India had lost their previous series in New Zealand 0-3.
In both games, whether chasing or batting first, India managed less than 120 runs, which is below-par against a top team like England.
Harmanpreet Kaur, the regular T20 captain, has not yet recovered from injury and stand-in skipper opener Smriti Mandhana failed to shine with the bat scoring 2 and 12 in the first and second T20 respectively.
Squads:
India: Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Bharti Fulmali, Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Komal Zanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurty, Harleen Deol.
England: Heather Knight (Captain), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Sophia Dunkley Brown, Freya Davies, Georgia Elwiss, Amy Ellen Jones, Laura Marsh, Natalie Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Linsey Smith, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt, Alex Hartley
Match starts 11 am.
PTI