India will look to seal the women’s T20I series when it takes on England in the fourth match on Wednesday, hoping for key contributions from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and opener Shafali Verma.
Leading 2-1 in the five-match contest, India was handed a wake-up call in the third game at The Oval, where England edged out a five-run win by exposing cracks in the visiting side’s batting. Both Shafali and Harmanpreet got off to promising starts — scoring 47 off 25 and 23 off 17, respectively — but failed to convert, stalling India’s momentum.
So far, the batting has leaned heavily on Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Amanjot Kaur. A bigger contribution from the experienced duo would boost India’s chances and provide much-needed depth.
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Shafali, returning to international cricket after eight months, is yet to play a defining knock, with scores of 20, 3, and 47. Harmanpreet, too, has had a quiet series since returning from a head injury, managing 1 and 23 in her two outings.
India’s bowlers have been largely impressive, with spinners N Shree Charani (8 wickets), Deepti Sharma (6), and pacer Arundhati Reddy (4) delivering timely breakthroughs. But Radha Yadav and Amanjot have leaked runs at more than 8.5 an over and will need to tighten up.
England, meanwhile, will seek greater stability with the bat. Its 171 for nine in the previous game was built on fifties from Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge before a dramatic collapse. It’ll also need more support for Lauren Bell from the rest of the attack.