Mandhana, Shree Charani hand England their heaviest T20I defeat

India 210 for 5 (Mandhana 112, Deol 43, Bell 3-27) beat England 113 (Sciver-Brunt 66, Shree Charani 4-12) by 97 runs

With Harmanpreet Kaur sitting out after she suffered a head knock during the warm-up game against ECB Developent XI on Wednesday, Mandhana struck three sixes and 15 fours on her way to 112 off 62 balls in a beautiful knock which only ended in the final over of India’s innings after they had been sent in.

The scrappiness in the field which haunted England in the aftermath of their T20 World Cup exit returned against an opposition that were always going to punish any mistakes but Mandhana was a class above, reaching her ton in just 51 deliveries. She joined Heather Knight, Tammy Beaumont, Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney as the only women to score centuries in all three formats.

While Mandhana reprised her opening partnership with the recalled Shafali Verma, it was Harleen Deol who played the best supporting role with the bat in a 23-ball 43 as India reached 210 for 5, their second-highest total in T20Is.

It was a wake-up call for England, who swept both their home white-ball series against West Indies, but were also found wanting with the bat, crumbling to 113 all-out inside 15 overs with captain Nat Sciver-Brunt playing a lone hand with 66 as debutant spinner N Shree Charani claimed 4 for 12.

Mandhana weaves magic in Nottingham

England thought their short-ball plan to Shafali had worked when, on 6, she chased one the pull and was given out caught behind by umpire Jacqueline Wilson. But Shafali indicated it had struck her helmet and used DRS to overturn the decision.

Shafali was by far the quieter of the opening pair, scoring her first boundary when she crashed Lauren Filer’s previous ball through mid-off. She struck another off the last ball of the over, advancing down the pitch to pierce the covers with some force.

Mandhana was the picture of elegance as she started the next over with back-to-back fours off Linsey Smith and finished it with another over the head of mid-on. She raised her fifty off 27 balls, cutting Alice Capsey for a second four off her first over. Em Arlott, whose misfield had contributed to the first of those boundaries, made amends when she broke up the pair as Shafali tamely chipped to mid-off and departed for 20 in a 77-run opening stand.

Mandhana’s six off the first ball of Filer’s third over went several rows into the stands at deep backward square leg after Deol had settled straight into her work at No.3, sweeping three fours off one Smith over. Mandhana cruised to her century via consecutive fours off Lauren Bell, with Harmanpreet beaming and applauding from the dressing room balcony as her substitute soaked in the moment.

Ecclestone’s not-so memorable comeback

Sophie Ecclestone returned to England for the first time since the dire Ashes tour of Australia after missing West Indies’ visit and taking a short injury and wellbeing break from domestic cricket. She watched as Mandhana slog-swept her first delivery for six and, three balls later, Mandhana sent another over the rope at wide long-on, Ecclestone conceding 19 runs in all off the over. She switched to the Stuart Broad end for her second, Mandhana and Deol helping themselves to 12 runs from it. Deol remained strong on the sweep but she fell mistiming a slog off Bell as Arlott ran round from long-on to take a strong catch just inside the rope.

Deol’s dismissal raised the question whether Bell should have been brought back into the attack earlier to limit the damage India were inflicting, but she bowled soundly at the death. She accounted for Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues cheaply, the former holing out to Sophia Dunkley at wide long-off and the latter for a second-ball duck when Sciver-Brunt took a brilliant catch diving low to her left at cover point.

Bell had said on the eve of the match that she was looking forward to bowling to Mandhana, her team-mate at Southern Brave, but it was Ecclestone who finally captured her wicket when called upon to bowl the final over. Mandhana smashed the first ball, a full toss, down the ground for four but miscued the second into the air over the covers and was caught by Sciver-Brunt. Ecclestone ended with 1 for 43 from three overs while Bell took 3 for 27 from four.

Indian spinners on song

The home side’s reply was off to the worst start imaginable when Ghosh took a stunning catch behind the stumps, reaching high to her right to pluck the ball from the air after Dunkley slashed at a swinging delivery from Amanjot Kaur at the end of the first over.

Deepti Sharma had taken a blow to the helmet from a ball thrown in from the outfield as she dived to make her ground off the last ball of India’s innings. But she struck with the first ball of the next over as Danni Wyatt-Hodge sent a leading edge straight to Deol at short third. The dismissal continued a poor international season against spin for Wyatt-Hodge, who was dismissed cheaply three times by left-arm spinner Zaida James during the T20Is against West Indies.

Deepti struck again when she bowled an advancing Tammy Beaumont, back in the T20 side for the first time since touring Ireland last September and playing just her sixth international match in the format since January 2022. England’s 58 for 3 at the end of the powerplay quickly became 62 for 4 when Radha Yadav beat Amy Jones’ attempt to drive and Ghosh overcame a fumble to remove the bails in time.

England’s reality check

Left to shoulder a huge load, Sciver-Brunt’s task was made even harder by Capsey’s tame dismissal spooning Charani straight to Arundhati Reddy at short third. Arlott, a more-than-capable batter, as she proved earlier in this domestic season shortly before being called up for England, smashed a six over deep midwicket off Radha but was caught in the covers by none other than Mandhana and England’s fate was sealed.

Sciver-Brunt brought up her fifty off 31 balls with a four off Deepti over the covers, but she was caught behind attempting to cut Charani, who also took the last wicket, Bell picking out to Rodrigues at deep midwicket. Charani finished with a memorable haul. England were expecting a tougher task than West Indies had posed when they came to face India but this match gave them the ultimate reality check.