Shafali Verma’s 52 went in vain as the Indian women’s cricket team fell short by 38 runs against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The second T20 match will be played on Saturday at the same venue. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bowl first. England notched up a massive tally of 197/6 in their 20 overs batting first and managed to restrict India to 159/6.

Kaur’s decision was validated by team-mate Renuka Singh (3/27) who delivered two blows in the first over. Renuka Singh dismissed Sophia Dunkley (1) on the fourth ball before eliminating Alice Capsey for a duck on the very next ball.

Danni Wyatt (75 off 47) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (77 off 53) from England’s side managed to rescue the visitors with a solid 138-run partnership for the third wicket which was broken by debutant spinner Saika Ishaque (1/38) in the 16th over.

Shreyanka Patil (1/44), India’s second debutant of the match, took the big wicket of England captain Heather Knight (6 off 7) in the 18th over but faced the heat in the 20th over by Amy Jones (23 off 9) who provided England with the final flourish by scoring an impressive 16 runs in the last over.

Shafali Verma Smashes Impressive Half-century

Shafali Verma’s had a fiery start paving the way for India’s strong response early on as the hosts chased the target of 198. Despite losing Smriti Mandhana early on (6) at the other end in the third over, Shafali Verma (52 off 42) continued to battle on taking India to a tally of 53/2.

Harmanpreet Kaur (26 off 21) and Shafali Verma h India stay in the game with a 41-run partnership. With India needing 116 runs from the final 10 overs, Kaur departed in the 11th over while trying to up the scoring rate.

Sophie Ecclestone, who has rejoined the team after a long injury layoff, made her mark among the English bowlers with figures of 3/15 from her four overs.

The second India vs England Women’s T20 cricket match will be played at the same venue on Saturday.

Indian Women’s Cricket Team Coach Stresses On Fitness And Fearlessness

Amol Muzumdar, a distinguished Indian cricketer with an impressive history in the game, has assumed charge as the Coach of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team. He has made significant contributions while representing the Mumbai and Assam cricket teams. As the coach, he has set his aim to groom the players with a firm focus on the T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh in 2024.

“Fielding and fitness are of the highest priority, there’ll be no compromise in that regard. There will be a lot of camps conducted after this series. More exposure, fitness, and fielding will be my top priorities. The new players and the fringe ones will also get lots of opportunities,” he said.

“We’ve already had fitness tests done at the NCA, and we’ll follow them rigorously going forward. There will be three such tests each season. Fearless cricket is something I always advocate, so we will be playing that brand,” he added.