T20 Tri-series: When India's record total wasn't enough

How does one feel to score the second highest ever Women's T20 International total and still end on the losing side? One can only feel for the team and at best, curse the pitch that was full of runs and had nothing on it for the bowlers.

Harmanpreet Kaur's Indian women's cricket team are feeling just that. They had a little bit of hope when they posted their highest total, 198/4 after being sent in to bat by England's captain Heather Knight in Englishwoman Jenny Gunn's 100th T20I, the first player, male or female, ever to do so at the Barbourne Stadium here on Sunday.

But, in what was the highest run-chase ever in women's T20Is, England opener Danielle Wyatt struck 124 (64b, 15x4, 5x6) as England beat India by seven wickets to win their second successive match in as many games in the T20 tri-series to top the table after the first leg.

When a total around 180 was considered as safe to defend, India scored 18 runs more to give themselves a higher chance of opening their account in the series and stop a dismal home run of losses.

India could not be faulted for having confidence in defending it during the change of innings, but 26-year-old Wyatt and her opening partner Bryony Smith had other plans. They toyed with the Indian bowling, which saw many full tosses and half-volleys being sent to the boundaries with ease.

Wyatt made the most of the licence to go for the kill, and it worked in England's favour. Wyatt scored her second century in three T20 innings. For someone who has played in 75 T20Is and amassed only 799 runs at an average of 17.36, here is someone who cannot be taken lightly.

Neither the spinners – Harman Kaur, Poonam Yadav, Anuja Patil and Deepti Sharma – nor the experience of Jhulan Goswami could stop Wyatt.

Wyatt and later Tammie Beaumont feasted on the full tosses, or stepped out to meet the ball on the full, to help England reach the target in the 19th over (199/3 in 18.4 ov).

The Indian bowlers did not bowl to the set field, packing off-side inside the circle on occasions and their bowlers keeping a middle and leg-stump line to enable the Englishwomen to pick the gaps for fours, if not sixes.

Never once did England fall behind the asking rate, Wyatt beginning with three fours in Jhulan Goswami's first over and followed it with another 13 off the second sent down by off-spinner Anuja Patil. The Indian women were demoralised already, and with boundaries coming at will, England's win was just a formality.

England go on a two-day break while India and Australia face each other on Monday in Match 4. England return to action on Wednesday, the first of their back-to-back matches.

Earlier, Indian batting could not have done any better. If anything at all, Smriti Mandhana (76, 40b, 12x4, 2x6), who took the blame upon herself after the first match loss to Australia on Thursday for not staying till the 20th over, could have batted right till the end. But, that is asking for too much from the 21-year-old Maharashtrian.

But, the conditions were not easy. With the increase in temperature and the heat unbearable, the cricketers could not be blamed for tiring. The left-handed opener and vice-captain continued her glorious run to post her fourth successive international fifty during the 129-run opening stand with the batting machine, Mithali Raj.

The two posted their second century partnership for the first wicket and India's fifth three-figure stand – Mithali features in four of them. Mandhana was the aggressive partner, going the aerial route like she did against Australia three days ago. Mithali (53, 43b, 7x4), initially, was happy to get off the strike to give Mandhana the majority of the balls.

Such was the perfect understanding between the two that, in keeping the scoreboard ticking and boundaries coming at will, Mithali's first 30 balls fetched her 35 while Mandhana had made 56 in hers as India reached 96 without loss in the first 10 overs.

Mandhana scored the fastest fifty by an Asian woman in T20s – 25 deliveries – and the fourth fastest until later in the day, Wyatt bettered it by one less delivery.

Once Mandhana fell to a smart catch at point in the 13th over, Mithali took charge and played some delightful strokes, pulling in front of square on the leg side and placing it behind to third man. Mithali began to tire and after reaching her 14th T20 fifty – the fourth most after Stefanie Taylor (WI, 20), Suzie Bates (NZ, 16) and Sarah Taylor (Eng, 15) – holed out to long on.

It seemed that the scoring rate may have dropped after Mandhana's dismissal but Harmanpreet Kaur's 22-ball 30 and Pooja Vastrakar's 10-ball 22 not out including four fours in the final over gave India their highest T20 score.

SCOREBOARD

India: Mithali Raj c Gunn b Farrant 53, Smriti Mandhana c Beaumont b Sciver 76, Harmanpreet Kaur b Farrant 30, Veda Krishnamurthy b Ecclestone 3, Pooja Vastrakar (not out) 22, Anuja Patil (not out) 2
Extras (W12) 12
Total (for 4 wkts, 20 overs) 198
Fall of wickets: 1-129, 2-141, 3-153, 4-179
Bowling: Natasha Farrant 4-0-32-2, Katie George 2-0-26-0, Sophie Ecclestone 4-0-29-1, Natalie Sciver 2-0-24-1, Heather Knight 3-0-26-0, Jennifer Gunn 4-0-49-0, Danielle Wyatt 1-0-12-0
England (target 199): Danielle Wyatt c Veda b Deepti 124, Bryony Smith b Goswami 15, Tamsin Beaumont c Mandhana b Deepti 35, Natalie Sciver (not out) 12, Heather Knight (not out) 8
Extras (W5) 5
Total (for 3 wkts, 18.4 ov) 199
Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-157, 3-183
Bowling: Jhulan Goswami 3.4-0-32-1, Anuja Patil 3-0-40-0, Pooja Vastrakar 3-0-36-0, Poonam Yadav 3-0-35-0, Harmanpreet Kaur 2-0-20-0, Deepti Sharma 4-0-36-2

DID YOU KNOW?

Danielle Wyatt joins West Indies' Deandra Dottin to score two T20I hundreds. Her 124 on Sunday is the second highest individual score, 2 short of Australia's Meg Lanning

Sunday's run-chase of 199/3 is the highest ever in Women's T20Is. It is also the second highest score behind South Africa's 205/1 against The Netherlands in Potchefstroom, 2010-11

The 129-run stand between Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana is India's second best partnership, one less than 130 that Punam Raut and MD Thirush Kamini shared against Bangladesh in Vadodara, 2012-13

N-ZONE

7
Wyatt's century on Sunday is the seventh instance of a batter scoring century in Women's T20Is. Five batters have the honours.

14
No. of T20 fifties scored by Mithali Raj, the fourth highest in the world and most by an Indian

5
No. of century partnerships India have registered in T20Is, all for the opening wicket. Four of them feature Mithali Raj. Two of them involve Mithali and Smriti Mandhana