Fifties by Wyatt, Sciver-Brunt fire England Women to 197/6

The hosts also appeared to have lost the steam soon after the early breakthroughs, failing to drive home the advantage as they were guilty of bowling and fielding poorly.

Mumbai: Marauding fifties by Danni Wyatt (75) and Natalie Sciver-Brunt (77) powered England Women to 197 for six after early stuttering against India in their first T20I of the three-match series here on Wednesday.

Wyatt and Sciver-Brunt put on a record 138 runs for the third wicket for England, which was also their first century stand against India in T20Is, after they were asked to bat first. India seamer Renuka Singh Thakur (4-0-27-3) was the pick among the bowlers as she struck twice in a row in the first over to dismiss Sophie Dunkley (1) and Alice Capsey (0).

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But Wyatt and Sciver-Brunt’s counter-attack saw England dominating the remainder of the first innings. The hosts also appeared to have lost the steam soon after the early breakthroughs, failing to drive home the advantage as they were guilty of bowling and fielding poorly.

Wyatt, who took charge of the recovery after the early blows, stroked her way to a 47-ball 75 studded with eight fours and two sixes to record her third fifty against India in the format. She also got a lifeline when Pooja Vastrakar spilled a catch at long-on off Shreyanka Patil (2/44).

On the other hand, Sciver-Brunt smacked as many as 13 fours to make 77 off only 53 balls, unleashing powerful hits on both the sides — particularly sweep shots — for her fifth T20I half-century against India. The two batters were successful not only in leading England’s strong recovery but also made the most of Indian spinners’ ordinary effort, who struggled with their line and lengths.

The experienced Deepti Sharma returned 3-0-28-0 whereas one of the two debutants Saika Ishaque was hit for 38 runs in her four overs. To her credit, the left-arm spinner Ishaque did break the third-wicket stand to get Wyatt stumped in the 16th over, but the visitors had done enough damage by then.

At one stage, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur even summoned Kanika Ahuja for a breakthrough but the spinner was smacked for 12 runs in her only over. Patil, who spilled a sharp return catch off Sciver-Brunt when she was on 45, got Amy Jones (23, 9 balls, 3x4s, 1x6s) off the last ball of the innings.

Eng scorecard: Sophia Dunkley b Renuka Singh 1 (2b), Danni Wyatt st †Ghosh b Ishaque 75 (47b, 8×4, 2×6), Alice Capsey b Renuka Singh 0 (1b), Nat Sciver-Brunt c †Ghosh b Renuka Singh 77 (53b, 13×4), Heather Knight (c) b Patil 6 (7b, 1×4), Amy Jones † c Rodrigues b Patil 23 (9b, 3×4, 1×6), Freya Kemp not out 5 (2b, 1×4); Extras: (b 1, lb 3, nb 1, w 5) 10; Total: (For 6 wkts in 20 overs) 197; Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-2, 3-140, 4-165, 5-177, 6-197; Bowling: Renuka Singh 4-0-27-3, Pooja Vastrakar 4-0-44-0, Saika Ishaque 4-0-38-1, Deepti Sharma 3-0-28-0, Shreyanka Patil 4-0-44-2, Kanika Ahuja 1-0-12-0