Ecclestone guides England to consolation win in final-ball thriller against India

The Guardian

3 days ago

England limped to a consolation five-wicket win in the final T20 at Edgbaston on Saturday evening, chasing down their 168-run target off the final ball after a dramatic finish.
England needed six runs off the final over, but Tammy Beaumont was bowled playing across the line to the first ball of Arundhati Reddy's 20th over, before Amy Jones fell to a spectacular flying catch by Radha Yadav at deep midwicket.
But with five runs needed from three balls, Sophie Ecclestone sprinted three after an Indian fumble in the deep, Paige Scholfield managed a single out into the off-side, and Ecclestone then made her ground for the necessary single off the final ball as the Indian shy at the stumps went wide.
The platform had been set after Danni Wyatt-Hodge celebrated becoming just the second woman (after Charlotte Edwards) to claim 300 caps for England by scoring 56 from 37 balls and sharing another century partnership at the top of the order with Sophia Dunkley.
But the narrow margin, and the 3-2 series loss, has revealed the scale of the task facing head coach Charlotte Edwards if she is to change her team's fortunes in time for the home World Cup next summer.
England's middle-order once again wobbled perilously in pursuit of their target, replicating the panic of the third T20, as what should have been an easy run-chase turned into a desperate one and was only successful thanks to some lethargic Indian fielding.
This time it was India who shelled crucial catches, putting Wyatt-Hodge down at short fine leg on 5. Then, after the opener miscued Deepti Sharma to midwicket in the 12th over, Shree Charani dropped a sitter at short third off Jones at a crunch point in the run chase, with 15 runs still needed.
Earlier, with Lauren Filer and Lauren Bell rested ahead of the ODIs, Warwickshire's Em Arlott and Issy Wong were tasked with opening the bowling on their home ground, but both took a hammering, conceding over 40 runs apiece as India reached 167 for seven after being put in to bat.
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Wong suffered particularly at the hands of Shafali Verma, who smashed 20 of her 75 runs off one over by the seamer. For Verma, it was a welcome comeback: her first international half-century since being dropped by India last year, struck so imperiously that in a 66-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, the latter contributed just 15 runs.
England were grateful to have Maia Bouchier back in the fold, despite the fact that she contributed just 16 runs at No 3: she has always been one of their best outfielders, and showed it here, clasping onto a brilliant running catch at wide long-on to see off Verma in the 13th over. She held onto another in the 19th which got rid of the aggressive Richa Ghosh.
But Bouchier's inclusion came at the expense of Alice Capsey, who now faces an uncertain path back to the England T20 side ahead of next summer's World Cup. England now have no official T20 internationals in the calendar until May of next year – a feat of scheduling which seems both bizarre and counterproductive, given the yawning gap between their current output and their desire to feature in a home final at Lord's next July.