Published: Mar 04, 2019, 12:29 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 04, 2019, 12:28 PM (IST)
Tammy Beaumont struck her fourth half-century to guide England women to 160 for 4 against India in the first T20I in Guwahati. Beaumont got together with fellow opener Danielle Wyatt and later with captain Heather Knight to forge two useful partnerships allowing England to score freely in the second half of the innings.
After Smriti Mandhana opted to bowl in her first assignment as India captain, Wyatt and Beaumont were off the blocks after three tight overs to score three boundaries in the fourth over off Deepti Sharma. Beaumont then twice clubbed back-to-back boundaries off spinner Radha Yadav and followed it with three boundaries off an over from Arundhati Reddy to bring up the 50-run partnership in the seventh over.
Wyatt and Beaumont continued to bat with flair, scoring at eight an over before Pandey finally broke through for India. Having put on a solid 93 runs for the first wicket, Wyatt lobbed a catch to Mandhana. India’s wait for their second wicket wasn’t long with Yadav removing Natalie Sciver cheaply. At 95 for 2 in 13 overs, skipper Knight took over the proceedings and took on the bowling attack.
With Beaumont playing sensibly and rotating strike, Knight took charge of the innings to plunder 40 off 20 balls with seven boundaries. Knight and Wyatt added 59 off 35 balls, which included the England skipper taking Reddy for five consecutive boundaries in the 18th over. It was Sharma who broke the partnership with the wicket of the Knight, holing out to Veda Krishnamurthy at long-on.
With Knight dismissed, all eyes were on Beaumont – who had reached his fifty off 47 balls – to accelerate but her dismissal allowed India to concede just 15 runs in the final two overs.
Brief Score: England women 160/4 (Tammy Beaumont 62, Heather Knight 40; Radha Yadav 2 for 33) against India women.
