India pushed the home side England into a must-win situation by sealing back-to-back victories, going 2-0 up in the five-match series. England suffered a massive blow as their regular skipper, Nat Sciver-Brunt, was ruled out of the 3rd T20I due to a left groin injury. The experienced veteran Tammy Beaumont stepped in as the stand-in skipper for the home side.
Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, hold England back after a 137-run opening stand
The England openers Danielle Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley got their side off to a promising and confident start with a massive 137-run opening partnership, after stand-in skipper Tammy Beaumont won the toss and opted to bat first in the 3rd T20I at Kennington Oval, London. Deepti Sharma broke the stand, by sending Sophia Dunkley (75 off 53 balls) back to the pavilion in the 16th over of the innings.
The Indian spinners triggered a dramatic collapse, as the home side just managed a total of 171/9 in their quota of 20 overs, losing their last 8 wickets for just 31 runs. Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (66 off 42 balls), much like her partner, also completed her half-century before getting dismissed. Sophie Ecclestone (10 off 5 balls) was the only other batter to enter the double digits with the bat for England.
Deepti Sharma (4-0-27-3) and Arundhati Reddy (4-0-32-3) picked up a couple of wickets each, while Shree Charani (4-0-43-2) and Radha Yadav (2-0-15-1) played their part with the ball for India.
India missed out on the opportunity to script history after a promising start
Chasing a target of 172, Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana got their side off to a promising start with a massive 85-run opening partnership, the pair scored at a rate of over 9 runs an over. Sophie Ecclestone cleaned up Shafali Verma (47 off 25 balls) to provide the much-needed first breakthrough for England in the 9th over of the run chase. She fell just three runs short of her well-deserved half-century.
Jemimah Rodrigues joined Smriti Mandhana at the crease, and the duo stitched another crucial 38-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take them past the 120-run mark. Lauren Filer picked up the crucial wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues (20 off 15 balls) to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side in the 14th over of the run chase.
India lost the momentum after the departure of Jemimah Rodrigues, and as a result, were restricted to 166/5 in their quota of 20 overs, falling just 5 runs short of the target. England clinched the much-needed victory in the ongoing 5-match T20Is to keep the series alive. Smriti Mandhana (56 off 49 balls) completed a well-crafted half-century but failed to get her side over the line. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (23 off 17 balls) chipped in with a crucial contribution with the bat for India.
Lauren Filer (4-0-30-2) and Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-24-1) were the top performers with the ball for England, while Issy Wong (4-0-36-1) and Lauren Bell (4-0-37-1) played their part with the ball for their side. Sophia Dunkley was awarded the Player of the Match for her impressive half-century, her 6th in the format. She, alongside Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, played a crucial role as England managed to keep the T20I series alive.
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