India Women’s tour of England will come to an end tonight, with the third T20I at the County Ground in Chelmsford. The T20I series is currently tied 1-1, while England hold an 8-6 lead in the multi-format series. A win here will help India draw the series 8-8.
At Hove, India put up 148/4 largely due to Shafali Verma’s 49, Harmanpreet Kaur’s 31, and Deepti Sharma’s 24. Tammy Beaumont’s fifty put England on course, but the match turned on its head in the 14th over as Beaumont and Heather Knight fell off consecutive deliveries. England lost 6 wickets for just 31 runs and lost the match by 8 runs.
Both sides have used only 11 players so far in the series. England may make changes for the final match. They have the experienced Anya Shrubsole on the bench, and can include her for Freya Davis. England can also add a middle-order batter in Fran Wilson.
India are unlikely to change their XI. It is important that they get a solid start from Verma and Smriti Mandhana. The middle order – Kaur, Sharma, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh, Sneh Rana – looks low on experience, and can be shuffled around.
India are also likely to persist with the spin combination of Sharma, Rana, Poonam Yadav, and Radha Yadav to put pressure on the England middle order and get an important away T20I series triumph.
Head to head
England are leading the tally with 16 wins whereas India have won just 5.
Likely XIs
England Women: Tammy Beaumont, Danielle Wyatt, Nat Sciver, Heather Knight (c), Amy Jones (wk), Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Katherine Brunt, Mady Villiers, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Glenn
India Women: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav
Prediction
England to get a narrow victory thanks to being more experienced.