Katherine Brunt's 5-28 and Danielle Wyatt's 56, ensured England Women deny India a 3-0 whitewash as they beat the hosts by three wickets in the 3rd IN-W vs EN-W ODI at Mumbai
Opting to bat first, India got off to a disastrous start with Jemimah Rodrigues getting knocked-over for her consecutive duck courtesy a brute of a delivery from Katherine Brunt.
Punam Raut then joined Smriti Mandhana at the crease and the duo carried from where they'd left in the second ODI. As you'd expect, Mandhana was the dominant of the two as the swashbuckling opener flayed the English attack to all corners of the ground and registered yet her 15th half-century.
Raut, on the other hand, gave ideal support to a belligerent Smriti and anchored the innings with some delightful strokes of her own. But, just as the duo looked prime of taking the game away from the English, Katherine Brunt, in her second spell, turned the game on its head completely.
The fast bowler initiated a dramatic collapse; starting with Smriti Mandhana, who holed out at deep square-leg, giving Wyatt the easiest of catches. Brunt, then cleaned-up Raut by an in-seamer before accounting for Mona Meshram and Mithali Raj soon.
Tanya Bhatia was knocked over by Anya Shrubsole and Jhulan Goswami fell to Natalie Sciver and all of sudden, it looked like India wouldn't bat out their quota of 50 overs. But, Deepti Sharma [27] and Shikha Pandey [26] stitched a valuable 47-run stand for the ninth wicket to help the hosts' post a fighting total of 8-205.
Two games ago, England lost by 66 runs while chasing 203, and with half of their side back in the hut at 49, the chances of an encore looked increasingly possible. But, skipper Heather Knight [47] stitched a crucial 69-run stand with Danielle Wyatt [66] to steady the fledgling ship.
But, just as the partnership was developing into a match-winning one, Poonam Yadav got the crucial wicket of Knight. Wyatt then spearheaded the innings, and along with Georgia Elwiss [33] and Katherine Brunt [18] helped her side gain two crucial points and deny India a 3-0 whitewash.
Match in a nutshell-
India Women [8-205, Smriti Mandhana 66, Katherine Brunt 5-28] lose to England Women [8-208, Danielle Wyatt 56, Jhulan Goswami 3-41]