England fell to a second successive defeat against India at Bristol on Tuesday, falling 25 runs short in their chase of 182, and face a nervous wait to see if the captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, will be fit for the third match of the series at the Oval on Friday.
Sciver-Brunt was unexpectedly absent for three-quarters of the India innings on Tuesday with a “tight hip”, and looked far from fluent in an innings of 13 from 10 balls. She will be assessed over the next 48 hours to determine the extent of the injury.
At Bristol it was a case of deja vu as England once again inserted India, conceded far too many runs for comfort, and failed to get within touching distance of their target after a tumble of early wickets.
Tammy Beaumont’s first T20i half-century since September 2021 brought a glimmer of hope to the chase, but she was run out by the bowler Radha Yadav in the 12th over and England were left with too much to do at the death, despite a late flurry of boundaries from Sophie Ecclestone who was run out for 35 off the final ball of the innings.
Beaumont described her contribution as “bittersweet”. “I’m doing a new role, with Heather [Knight] out injured,” she said. “I’m loving having to think differently about batting in T20 cricket again. But for me it’s never as satisfying when we’re on the losing side.”
Up top, Danni Wyatt-Hodge avoided the ignominy of a fourth successive duck thanks to a tickle off an inside-edge, but then plonked her next ball into the hands of mid-off, doing nothing to dispel the question marks hanging over her current place at the top of the order.
The India captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, returning to the fray after missing the first T20 with a head injury, then held on to a fantastic catch running round from mid-on to see off Sciver-Brunt, leaving England three down in the first four overs.
Earlier, the absence of Sciver-Brunt from the field meant the stand-in skipper, Sophia Dunkley, was tasked with the official responsibility of rotating the English bowlers and somehow stemming the Indian flow – although in practice, it appeared to be mostly Ecclestone who took charge.
Despite the loss of three Indian wickets in the powerplay – including Saturday’s centurion Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet herself – India rampaged their way to 181 for four.
The huge acceleration between overs eight and 20 came courtesy of half-centuries from Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur. For the 25-year-old Amanjot, who scythed the English spinners with ease, this was a proud moment: her first 50 for her country.
“It is the first of many,” Amanjot said. “I want to do it more for India. This is the new Indian team. Wherever we go, home or away, we are ready to dominate.”
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Meanwhile Rodrigues – who knows English wickets of old via both the Kia Super League and the Hundred – dealt well with the pace of Lauren Filer, twice ramping her to the boundary before diving to make her ground and bring up her own half-century amid a chaotic, 18-run over.
Lauren Bell – newly promoted to No 4 in the ICC’s T20 bowling rankings – lived up to that billing, returning at the death to have Rodrigues caught off a slower ball. But Richa Ghosh then flailed her way to 32 from 20 balls, helped by a let-off on 12 by Beaumont, who somehow stumbled at square leg and let the ball slip through her cupped hands.
Earlier, after a rogue opening over from Alice Capsey which went for 11 runs courtesy of two beautiful cuts for four by Mandhana, England’s three quicks had dominated the powerplay, taking a wicket apiece.
Shafali Verma departed after fending off a Filer bouncer, before Bell and Emily Arlott held on to catches at mid-on and short fine leg which were tougher than several England put down on Saturday.
“Compared to the last game, there were certainly signs of fight from the team. At times, we were really in the game,” Beaumont said. “It might take a little bit of time, but we know we’re putting the work in behind the scenes. Sometimes you’ve just got to trust the process.”
