London, July 5(HS): The England women’s cricket team achieved their first series win by defeating India by 5 runs in a tense last-ball finish of the third T20 match. This victory marked England’s initial success in the five-match T20 series. England’s bowling was spearheaded by Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Filer, with Ecclestone providing economical bowling and Filer taking key wickets to fend off India’s win.

India, chasing a target of 172 runs, had a strong start with openers Smriti Mandhana (56 runs off 49 balls) and Shafali Verma (47 runs off 25 balls) forming a solid partnership. However, Shafali was dismissed by Ecclestone, followed by Jemimah Rodrigues (20 runs off 15 balls) shortly after, hampering India’s chances.

Despite England dropping several catches, Lauren Bell and Issy Wong used effective slower balls, bringing the match to its final over. India needed 6 runs off the last ball, but captain Harmanpreet Kaur (23 runs off 17 balls) couldn’t secure a win. English openers Sophia Dunkley (75 runs off 53 balls) and Dani Wyatt-Hodge (66 runs off 42 balls) contributed significantly before the middle order faltered as England lost 8 wickets for 31 runs after scoring over 170 runs, extending their unbeaten record.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar