India level T20I series with comprehensive victory

NICK FRIEND AT DERBY: After the tourists took three England wickets in the powerplay, Smriti Mandhana guided her team home in a comfortable chase at Derby

Derby: England 142-6, India 146-2 - India win by eight wickets

Scorecard

India levelled the three-match T20I series against England, hammering the hosts at Derby by eight wickets, just 72 hours after a similarly one-sided defeat.

Smriti Mandhana made an unbeaten 79 as she guided the tourists to victory at a venue where England previously hadn't lost in this format for more than a decade.

But after stand-in captain Amy Jones won the toss and elected to bat, her inexperienced team lost three wickets in the powerplay – Sophia Dunkley stumped, Danni Wyatt caught at slip, Alice Capsey calamitously run out – and could only recover to 142 for 6 which, on a true surface and an outfield that became dewy as the evening wore on, was under-par.

Freya Kemp made a defiant half century, becoming the second-youngest England player to do so in any format, and was well supported by Maia Bouchier, who struck her highest score at international level. Kemp's enterprising knock featured three sixes and a particular fluency through the off-side, and the 17-year-old became just England's fourth left-hander to make an international fifty.

But, although she ensured that England added almost 100 runs in the second half of their innings for the loss of only a single wicket, the initial collapse to 54 for 5 left a mountain to climb. Jones was bowled reverse-sweeping Sneh Rana shortly after Bryony Smith, who was involved in the runout of Capsey, had chipped to long-on the very next delivery after being dropped at deep midwicket.

^{Freya Kemp made her maiden international half century (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

In general, though, India's fielding was much improved on the shambolic display at Durham, where multiple chances went down and the standard of ground fielding left much to be desired. They were led in that regard by Radha Yadav, the left-arm spinner who was a doubt for this game with a shoulder injury but who shook off that blow to set the tone.

She caused Capsey's dismissal with a terrific full-length dive and throw while on her knees from the boundary edge; Harmanpreet Kaur intercepted the relay throw and threw the ball to wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh with the teenage batter mid-pitch. Yadav later repeated that excellence in running in from the deep to catch Smith.

In reply, Mandhana and Shafali Verma led the way, breaking the back of a potentially awkward chase. Smith's solitary over was taken for 11 and Kemp was soon reminded how fickle a game cricket can be: her single over cost 19 runs, including a no-ball and subsequent free hit that were both dispatched to the boundary.

Capsey was similarly attacked, conceding 13 runs in her over, while neither Sarah Glenn nor Sophie Ecclestone could keep a lid on the visitors' rampant mood. Ecclestone caught and bowled Verma, while Glenn ought to have had Kaur caught in the deep, only for Wyatt to shell a straightforward chance. That, though, was unlikely to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Mandhana hit the winning runs off the game's hundredth delivery, with 3.2 overs remaining.

The series ends with a decider at Bristol on Thursday, before the ODIs start on Sunday.

Related Topics

• Lauren Bell handed maiden England T20I call-up for India series