India will look to capitalise on opener Smriti Mandhana’s form and hope for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s availability as it aims for consecutive wins in the second Women’s T20I against England is played here on Tuesday.
Mandhana’s first-ever T20I century in the first match at Nottingham guided India to a massive 97-run win. The knock would ring alarm bells in the hosts’ camp as they try to find answers to the dramatic batting collapse they suffered while chasing a steep 210-run total.
The long camp in Bengaluru, followed by their early arrival in England and a couple of tour matches, seems to have helped the visitors get into the rhythm of the shortest format.
Despite missing its key seamers, Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar, who are injured, India did not get a step wrong in Nottingham.
Harleen Deol at No. 3 looked the right call as she forged a 94-run stand for the second wicket with Mandhana to set up the platform for a big total.
The bilateral white-ball series will certainly help India’s young players get acclimatised with the conditions as the side gears up for the T20 World Cup, scheduled in England next year.
The match will begin at 11:00pm IST.
MATCH SQUADS
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Sayali Satghare, Deepti Sharma, Kranti Goud, Arundhati Reddy, Shree Charani, Radha Yadav.
England: Natalie Sciver-Brunt (c), Tammy Beaumont (wk), Sophia Dunkley, Amy Jones (wk), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Paige Scholfield, Em Arlott, Lauren Bell, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Linsey Smith, Issy Wong.
(with inputs from PTI)