Batters share stand of 126 for third wicket

England’s Amy Jones makes 67 but lacks support

Speedy half-centuries from Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues helped India post 188 for seven and overcome hosts England by 38 runs in the first T20 international on Thursday.

The debutant seamer Nandani Sharma, who took a hat-trick in January’s WPL, could not quite repeat the feat here, but three wickets in the space of five balls was nevertheless an impressive outing for the 24-year-old.

England were trounced by India last summer, so this series promised to be a good test of progress over the past 12 months under the head coach, Charlotte Edwards. But despite the decision to hand a maiden T20 cap to the 18-year-old Tilly Corteen-Coleman, effectively giving England an extra bowling option, somehow they still seemed to lack depth in that department.

Lauren Bell was as reliable as ever, finishing with three for 34 and ­ripping apart the India top-order with a ­double-wicket opening over. On the flip side, one powerplay over from Issy Wong cost 27 runs, while another from Dani Gibson at the death went for 17.

In reply, Amy Jones struck 67 off 48 balls from the unfamiliar No 3 position – her first T20i half-century in almost six years. England’s keeper has been under scrutiny after a couple of under-par performances with the gloves, including letting through 14 byes at Canterbury last weekend. This innings should at least take some of that heat off ahead of the World Cup.

But the lack of support for Jones told. Sophia Dunkley smashed a huge six straight down the ground but it was deja vu all over again when she was caught at mid-off swiping across the line. This match was Heather Knight’s 310th international across formats, making her the most‑capped England player. But 20-over cricket moves quickly these days and Knight’s innings of 22 from 24 balls made England’s task harder, not easier, as the run rate slowly climbed out of reach.

Both regular captains were absent from the fray: Harmanpreet Kaur was rested for this match, while Nat Sciver-Brunt is still fighting her way back from a calf injury. Sciver-Brunt told the BBC on Thursday that recovery was “going to plan”, but may well still be unable to bowl by the time England’s World Cup campaign begins on 12 June – which may further limit their options with the ball.

England’s stand-in captain, ­Charlie Dean, fielded aggressively off her own bowling, at one point twice pulling out of her delivery stride, seemingly threatening to run out Bhatia at the non-striker’s end in a role-reversal of the notorious incident at Lord’s four years ago.

It was Dean who broke the ferocious 126-run partnership between Bhatia and Rodrigues with a double-strike in the 14th over. First, she ran out Bhatia, who was too slow to get going after punching the ball out to short third. Two balls later, Dean took a good low catch off her own bowling to remove Rodrigues.

The evening had started with two contrasting overs from seamers Bell and Wong. Bell, steaming in from the Graham Gooch End, had Mandhana caught at cover with the first ball of the match and Shafali Verma fell five balls later to an excellent catch by Alice Capsey at mid-on, diving ­forward to claim it even as Dean danced unfortunately close to her eyeline.

Unfortunately Wong then undid all the good work from the Alastair Cook End, in an over that evoked troubling memories of her horror show here three years ago against Sri Lanka. Back then, she leaked 24 runs from two overs – this time she cost more than that in six balls, ­conceding 27, 11 of which came in wides.

But with both set batters removed, India’s death prospects took a ­tumble, enabling Wong time to atone for that first over, taking a spectacular low catch sprinting out to deep third to hand Corteen-Coleman a maiden T20i wicket and then bowling Bharti Fulmali with a slower ball.

Perhaps the simple lesson here is that omitting Linsey Smith from their XI, leaving England with only one reliable bowling option in the ­powerplay, is not a helpful World Cup strategy. England have two more matches against India to figure that one out, before the tournament begins.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/may/28/indias-bhatia-and-rodrigues-overpower-england-to-set-up-victory-in-first-t20i