Key events
16th over: India 87-1 (Mandhana 43, Deol 4) Mandhana takes one to square leg, the only run of the over, and Ecclestone is settling into her spell now. Drinks.
15th over: India 77-1 (Mandhana 42, Deol 4) India get it moving again, two singles from the first two balls of Dean’s over – the second courtesy of a misfield – followed by a cut for two to deep point. A single and another two follows, then we see footage of the third delivery of Ecclestone’s last over which hit pad before bat; had England reviewed, it would’ve bee out, but they didn’t even appeal.
14th over: India 70-1 (Mandhana 38, Deol 1) Mandhana goes over the top when Ecclestone flights one; the outfield is sluggish, so she has to make do with two. A single follows, then three dots ad another single; I wonder, though, if Sciver-Brunt might look to force something to happen by moving a fielder or two closer in. Currently, there’s no proximate hostility for the batters to consider.
13th over: India 67-1 (Mandhana 35, Deol 1) Looking again, there was really nice dip on the wicket-ball, which also bounced just a touch more. England have got the scoring under control and, though India started well, they’ve not yet got away. The remainder of the over yields a wide and two singles, Deol running down to get off the mark; can the hosts build pressure?
WICKET! Rawal c Jones b Dean 26 (India 64-1)
Yup, Rawal edged behind and how badly did England need that?
13th over: India 64-0 (Rawal 26, Mandhana 34) Dean tosses one up that then turns back into Rawal, who tries a cut, missing; Jones collects, the bowler is sure there’s a tickle … but the umpire says no. England review…
12th over: India 64-0 (Rawal 26, Mandhana 34) On the bench, Harmapreet and Deepti will be salivating at the platform being built; in the middle, Ecclestone’s first ball spins, Jones can’t grab, and the batters run three wides. The second delivery, though, grips and bounces; Rawal edges in defence, then Beaumont gets a good hand on square-drive, limiting them to one. England mustered a bit more pressure in that over, but can they back it up?
11th over: India 60-0 (Rawal 25, Mandhana 34) Scary hours for England, two twos and two singles from the first five balls making this a decent over already, then Mandhana square-drives its final delivery, they run two more, and that’s another eight added.
10th over: India 52-0 (Rawal 22, Mandhana 29) Yeah, Sciver-Brunt wants a wicket, introducing Ecclestone nice and early, but she’s milked for two singles, the second of them raising India’s fifty, then edged for a well-run two. The intensity from the tourists has been very good so far – they’ve batted with excellent conviction so far.
9th over: India 48-0 (Rawal 19, Mandhana 28) Dean replaces Filer and immediately goes around to Smriti, who belatedly no-balls her; she rightly tells him she bowled from the stumps not the crease and it was the back foot that came over the line in follow-through; he changes his call. Mandhana does, though, add one with a drive to mid-off, Rawal then glances another to square leg, and that’s a nicely economical opening from Dean. Her team needed it.
8th over: India 46-0 (Rawal 18, Mandhana 27) I do love Chester-le-Street. If i’m honest, that’s partly because I love Bryan Robson and going to his birthplace was a pilgrimage, but it’s also a beautiful ground, and I was lucky enough to see one of the great spells of bowling when I visited. Back with today, offered one on the pads, Mandhana swats away dismissively for her fifth four of the innings – don’t be bowling there to me, old mate – then a single allows Rawal to haul another pull for two more.
7th over: India 39-0 (Rawal 16, Mandhana 22) Bell continues but, with England having stemmed the scoring, she’s again too straight, allowing Rawal to turn her away to fine leg for four. A drive to backward point adds two more, then a half-batted drive runs away for four. Two balls to go and already 10 from the over; Bell responds with a pair of dots but India are cruising nicely here. England could really use a wicket.
6th over: India 29-0 (Rawal 6, Mandhana 22) This is also better from Filer, who bowls four dots then Mandhana glances square of the wicket on the leg-side … and Lamb mistimes her dive, so they run two. The fielding has not been the best aspect of this series, but Filer responds with a decent nut. She’s into this now.
5th over: India 27-0 (Rawal 6, Mandhana 20) Betterish from Bell, who still offers drive-balls, but with greater risk and the shots pick out fielders. Naturally, no sooner have I typed that than she sends down a leg-side wide, the only one from the over until its final delivery goes down the ground for one more.
4th over: India 25-0 (Rawal 6, Mandhana 19) India will be very happy with their start and, as I type, Rawal drives nicely through cover for one, then Filer offers a straight one, back of a length on the hip, and Madhana yanks it around the corner for another four; she wants to be the difference here, and she’s seeing it big.
3rd over: India 19-0 (Rawal 5, Mandhana 14) Again, Bell is too full, and Mandhana drives through point for four … then strokes a shorter one down into the pitch for four more through extra. Lovely shot. So Sciver-Brunt comes over to chat to her bowler, who goes around to the left-handed Manhana, over-pitches again, and a delectable cover-drive makes it three boundaries in three balls. That last one was reminiscent of Ian Bell, and there’s little higher praise than that. From there, though, Bell comes back well, sending down three dots, but her over still costs 12.
2nd over: India 7-0 (Rawal 5, Mandhana 2) Filer starts nicely, hurling an inswinger into Rawal’s pad; there’s an appeal, but probably an exculpatory inside-edge, which is presumably why England don’t review. It turns out there was also too much movement – the ball wouldn’t have hit the stumps – then, after two singles, Dunkley allows Rawal’s drive through her legs at cost of two.
1st over: India 3-0 (Rawal 2, Mandhana 1) Bell comes stotting in and does well to see her floaty full toss hit straight to backward point. We then lose pictures, missing two singles, then one more follows.
…and play.
Lauren Bell has the ball…
Here come our players…
Teams
England 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Amy Jones (wk), 3 Emma Lamb, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 5 Sophia Dunkley, 6 Alice Davidson-Rich, 7 Charlie Dean, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Linsey Smith, 10 Lauren Filer, 11 Lauren Bell.
India 1 Pratika Rawal, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Radha Yadav, 9 Sneh Rana, 10 N Sree Charani, 11 Kranti Goud.
All being well, Ecclestone is also back. She was terrific at Lord’s, and has just explained to Charlie-Charles Dagnall how hurt she was by the criticism she received during the following the Ashes series. But she’s used to time since to regenerate, reminding herself how much playing for England means to her. She is, for mine, the most likely of the panoply of match-winners playing today.
I’m glad to see Filer back. England are a much better side when able to call upon her pace, and they’ll need her in India when the World Cup starts.
Sciver-Brunt would’ve bowled, so is happy. She liked how flexible her team were at Lord’s but makes two changes – in come Alice Davidson-Richards and Lauren Filer, with Maia Bouchier and Em Arlott dropping out. India make on change, Radha Yadav replacing Arundhati Reddy.
India win the toss and bat
They’re playing four spinners who they want bowling later in the match, explains Harmanpreet. She’s happy with the cricket India have played this tour and hopes for another positive performance.
Time for the toss…
We’ll take it.
And in other sports:
Also going on:
Preamble
You wait ages for a banger of a bilateral, then two turn up at once.
Though England and India are two teams still seeking themselves, in the meantime, they are both fine teams, in the process of serving us a terrific series. It’s easy to make a case for both to take it today, as it is for almost every player of the 22 to make the crucial contribution. We play sport partly to find out what’s going to happen when we do, and anyone confidently predicting the outcome of this contest is bluffing.
There are players in form – for England, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Davidson-Richards, Amy Jones and, of course, Sophie Ecclestone, with Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Smriti Mandhana at it for India. But there are also players who’ve yet to fully figure but rarely let a series go by without a major contribution – Tammy Beaumont and Nat Sciver-Brunt for the hosts, Harmanpreet Kaur for the tourists. Any one of them could be definitive today, likewise someone we’ve not named – we just don’t know, which is what makes this match so exciting.
Likewise, the imminent World Cup: everything that happens today is building towards that, with players jockeying for position and units looking to cement themselves. For the teams, there’s a series on the line, but the players are playing for their futures. This is going to be great.
Play: 1pm BST
