Winning the toss and opting to field first was the immediate choice for either captain owing to overnight rain. Harmanpreet Kaur went with that choice and the decision paid dividends immediately in Gqeberha on Saturday.
Bowling the first over, Renuka Singh kept the line and length tight, managing an outside edge off Danni Wyatt's (0) bat from her third delivery. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh completed a stunning one-handed catch with the ball getting stuck in her glove's webbing.
Alice Capsey, who had scored a fiery 22-ball 51 against Ireland in the last match, was Renuka's next victim, getting her wickets castled for 3.
Advertisement
England batters, looking to take on the Indian bowlers, survived multiple instances of getting out, thanks to the ball missing the stumps by inches.
Harmanpreet decided to continue Renuka for her third over hoping to get another wicket and she did not disappoint. Sophia Dunkley (10) tried going for an inside-out shot, exposing the stumps, but missed the ball altogether getting her leg stump uprooted in the process.
Deepti Sharma was brought into the attack to bowl the last over of the powerplay and she almost gave England batters another heart attack, this time reviewing a not out decision off captain Heather Knight only for the decision to be upheld.
Advertisement
Rajeshwari Gayakwad started poorly, bowling short as she did against West Indies, conceding two boundaries in her first over and 12 runs overall.
Nat Sciver-Brunt forged a steady partnership with Knight, with the pair scoring 43 runs between them with the scorecard reading 72-3 after 10 overs.
As soon as the pair brought up its 50-run stand, the returning Shikha Pandey struck, with Knight getting caught at covers by Shafali Verma for a well-made 28 runs off 23 deliveries.
England batters targetted Pooja Vastrakar, bowling the 15th over, in their bid to bring up the team's total to 100, after initially struggling at 29-3. The Indian seamer went for 14 runs off her second over.
Amy Jones played the perfect companion to Sciver-Brunt hitting the opposition bowling to different parts of the ground. England vice-captain Sciver-Brunt brought up her 50 off 41 deliveries.
India's inability to get wickets in the mid-overs, as seen in the previous two matches, seemed to have cost them the momentum they carried in the powerplay.
Deepti Sharma broke the partnership when Nat-Sciver (50), who attempted a reverse sweep, scooped one to short third towards Smriti Mandhana.
Joined by Sophie Ecclestone, Jones (40) continued to thwart the challenges set by the Indian bowlers before being dismissed by Renuka for her fourth wicket of the day.
Advertisement
Katherine Sciver-Brunt became Renuka's fifth victim after she got caught by Radha Yadav at long-on.
Renuka had the chance to get her hat-trick, but could only manage 4-byes off her last delivery, with England reaching 151/7 after 20 overs.
