England claimed a consolation win in the final T20 of the series against India as they edged a last-ball thriller at Edgbaston.
Chasing 168, England needed six from the final over with seven wickets in hand, but lost stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones to leave one run needed from the final delivery.
Sophie Ecclestone and Paige Scholfield scampered the single to survive the scare and seal a five-wicket win, though Ecclestone would have been run out with a direct hit from Jemimah Rodrigues at mid-off.
The tense finish concluded England’s highest successful chase in a home T20, which was set up by Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s 56 from 36 balls on her 300th international appearance in an opening stand of 101 with Sophia Dunkley.
Beaumont’s 30 seemed to set up England’s push for victory, but she was bowled from the first ball of Arundhati Reddy’s closing over and Jones was dismissed by a phenomenal catch from Radha Yadav on the mid-wicket boundary.
Earlier, opener Shafali Verma played a lone hand in India’s 167-7 with a sensational 75 from 41 balls.
Verma whacked 13 fours and a six in her knock but struggled for support, with Richa Ghosh’s 24 the second-highest contribution as England chipped away with wickets throughout the middle overs to stall their scoring.
Charlie Dean was the pick with 3-23, including Verma, Sophie Ecclestone took 2-28 and Linsey Smith picked up 1-26.
The one-day international series begins at Southampton on 16 July, which will be England’s final three matches in the format before the World Cup starts at the end of September.
More to follow.
