England vs India Women: Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana help India gun down 220, win ODI series finale

Mithali Raj celebrated a landmark outing by delivering a match-winning performance as India Women defeated England by 4 wickets in a rain-curtailed ODI series finale in Worcester. Mithali answered her critics in style, hitting an unbeaten 86-ball 75 to help he visitors gun down a 220-run target on Saturday.

India have now made it 4-6 in the multi-format series. Mithali Raj’s side sealed a heroic draw in the one-off Test last month and won the ODI series finale. England won the first 2 ODIs and sealed an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the 3-match series.

Mithali Raj completed a hat-trick of fifties in the ODI series and the final one, a well-paced 75 helped India seal the victory in Worcester. Mithali played a delightful drive through the covers to hit the winning runs in the 47th over the rain-affected match.

Earlier in the day, Mithali Raj had set a world record by going past former England batter Charlotte Edwards’s tally of 10,273 runs to become the highest run-getter in international women’s cricket.

Mithali hit 8 boundaries and scored at a strike rate of over 87 to help silence her critics who were vocal about her scoring rate. The India captain held the innings together once again and kept her even as the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma went without troubling the scorers much.

Sneh Rana, who walked in at No. 7, continued her fine run, hitting a quickfire 24 in just 22 balls, helping swing the momentum in India’s favour in a tense chase.

Smriti Mandhana provides solid start to India in 220 chase

Earlier, Smirti Mandhana (49 from 57 balls) and Shafali Verma (19) gave India a strong start, putting on 45 runs for the opening wicket. Jemimah Rodrigues continues to struggle for form as she was dismissed for 4.

However, Mithali used all her experience to come up with a solid knock.

A moral boosting win for @BCCIWomen and Impressed by the finishing skills of @SnehRana15 in the end and captain @M_Raj03 leading from the front! 3 consecutive half-centuries fantastic performance . Was in control throughout #Legend #ENGvsIND #MithaliRaj #Respect pic.twitter.com/oiuRBm9R3h

— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) July 3, 2021

Deepti Sharma shines with 3 wickets

With the ball, it was off-spinner Deepti Sharma who shone, picking up 3 wickets. Shikha Pandey started it all by removing in-form Tammy Beaumont for 0 as early as the 2nd over.

Sneh Rana broke a crucial 67-run stand with captain Heather Knight and Laura Winfield Hill by removing the latter. Vice-captain Harmanpreet got the big wicket of Knight for 46.

Nat Sciver kept England’s charge going with a 59-ball 49 but she was sent back by Deepti Sharma. In-form Sophia Dunkley hit 28 but Deepti removed the dangerous middle-order batter.

England suffered a mini-collapse as they went from 151 for 3 to 219-all out.

The two teams will play a 3-match T20I series from July 9 to 15.

Brief Scores: India (220 for 6 in 46.3 overs) defeated England (219-all out in 47 overs). Mithali Raj (75*), Smriti Mandhana (49); Sophie Ecclestone (2/36).