Brunt, Wyatt help England seal tense win against India women

MUMBAI: In a tale of two lower-order fightbacks, England prevailed by two wickets to pocket their first championship points on their tour of India. For the hosts, this was another trophy in the bag, allowing them to build on their ODI success in New Zealand.

On a comeback after missing the World T20 late last year, Katherine Brunt’s incisions resulted in India losing 6 for 21 at one stage, slipping from a comfortable 129 for 1. Brunt took four of those wickets in the course of a four-over second spell, having already dismissed the opener Jemimah Rodrigues with the new ball.

Of her wickets, Smriti Mandhana’s may have been a touch lucky, the India vice-captain pulling a long-hop straight to deep midwicket for 66, the highest score of India’s innings. Punam Raut, also on a comeback, made 56 before Brunt bowled her with an in-ducker.

It took a stodgy 47-run stand between Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma to lift them to 205 for 8. Brunt finished with 5 for 28.In the final ODI too, there was the familiar early collapse, this time against the seam of Jhulan Goswami, who sent back the top three as England slipped to 49 for 5.

Wyatt walked in at No. 7 and immediately made run accumulation look easy, leaving her imprint on the tour after sitting out the first two ODIs. Picked only because of an injury to Sophie Ecclestone, Wyatt milked runs steadily to make an 82-ball 56, along the way adding 69 with her captain Knight.

Elwiss went on to see the chase home and remained unbeaten on 33. Brunt, who would have liked to cool off after an intense spell, made 18 crucial runs to take England to within two runs of victory. Anya Shrubsole then walloped a boundary to complete the formalities.

Scores: England women 208 for 8 (Wyatt 56, Knight 47, Elwiss 33*, Goswami 3-41, Pandey 2-34) beat India women 205 for 8 (Mandhana 66, Raut 56, Brunt 5-28) by two wickets.