From 20-2, England bounced back thanks to their skipper. Sciver-Brunt looked like she was never out of commission, easily stabilising matters. She still wasn\u2019t entirely out of the woods, being dropped twice in quick succession\u2014though both were fairly difficult chances. First, the ball just fell short of Harleen Deol at mid-off, and then an over later, she smashed it to a diving Smriti Mandhana at short mid-wicket\u2014too near and too quick to control.<\/p>\n
The captain and Lamb weren\u2019t looking to depart anytime soon, but then came Sneh Rana to end their 71-run partnership. Lamb tried to punch it above mid-off but failed to get the height, and Harmanpreet caught her on 39. Third time was the charm with Sciver-Brunt, who once more played it a little slower to short mid-wicket, but a more reliable Jemimah Rodrigues dived and held on to send the skipper back for 41, bringing England to four down before hitting the 100 mark.<\/p>\n
Then came the in-form Sophia Dunkley and Davidson-Richards, who slowly but surely brought England back from the brink. Birthday girl Dunkley may have wished for some luck in today\u2019s game, as she was dropped twice by Jemimah at that dreaded short mid-wicket position\u2014first on 22, then on 43. Dunkley reached her half-century and was soon followed by Davidson-Richards, the latter\u2019s first international fifty in three years.<\/p>\n
Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n They made it a 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket and got England past 200, but then WT20I player of the series Sree Charani finally got the breakthrough, bamboozling Davidson-Richards and her own keeper Richa Ghosh, who haphazardly stumped the all-rounder at 53. That didn\u2019t break England\u2019s momentum in the slightest, as Dunkley, now joined by Sophie Ecclestone, pulled out all the stops\u2014scoring 49 runs in the final five overs. Dunkley was bowled on the last ball for 83 by Amanjot Kaur, ending England\u2019s innings at 258-6.<\/p>\n Second innings<\/p>\n Mandhana had a new opening partner in Rawal, but that didn\u2019t deter her explosive form in the slightest. The left-hander got in some early boundaries, with a routine chase on the cards for India. But in came a sharp Lauren Bell from around the wicket, as Mandhana walked after a faint edge to Jones behind the stumps at 28. Even Bell was confused after making a half-hearted appeal.<\/p>\n Rawal and Deol fortunately prevented a collapse, carefully proceeding with the innings. Rawal, in her first time in England, seemed steady and pushed on\u2014a good sign given the pressure of competition for that opening spot in this Indian team. But Ecclestone ended her innings on 36 with an off-spin delivery crashing into the stumps.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n A lethargic attitude started to set in this chase, and it proved costly. An unaware Deol was run out on 27 by Davidson-Richards trying to complete a soft single. A dismissal that could have been avoided had she grounded the bat\u2014a village cricket error.<\/p>\n The chase continued to unravel when Harmanpreet was LBW to Charlie Dean after England\u2019s review following the umpire\u2019s not-out signal. The captain was gone for 17, still struggling on this English tour, having scored only 82 runs in five innings. Deepti Sharma and Jemimah, however, dragged India away from trouble with an explosive 90-run partnership.<\/p>\n Jemimah was closing in on her first ODI fifty in England, but her eagerness got the better of her. Attempting a scoop on a good-length ball isn\u2019t the smartest move, and Jemimah paid for it\u2014nicking it to Jones off Filer\u2019s delivery and walking back in frustration for 48.<\/p>\n Sharma stuck on and got her fifty\u2014just one short of a run-a-ball\u2014with only two fours and a six. India were closing in comfortably, but keeper Ghosh, in pursuit of a swift finish, was stumped cleanly by Jones off Dean for just 10. Calmness from Sharma and Amanjot sealed the win for India with 10 balls remaining.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe plan was clear\u201d<\/p>\n India eventually made it past the finish line to complete the chase, albeit with a few road bumps along the way. Deepti Sharma, however, didn\u2019t foresee any bumps and paved a clean route for India to the target with a player-of-the-match-worthy 62*.<\/p>\n \u201cThat partnership (with Jemimah) was a turning point,\u201d said Sharma about her role in the chase after the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew we had to focus on keeping that partnership; the plan was clear. We knew if we just worked on that, then we could take the game quite close\u2014and we did.\u201d<\/p>\n Even with Sharma at the crease, the death overs put some pressure on India, with the wickets of Jemimah and Ghosh. Still, Sharma felt more than comfortable and calm in that situation.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI was not nervous,\u201d said the all-rounder.<\/p>\n \u201cI have played in these kinds of situations before, so I knew that if I played till the end, I\u2019d have to finish\u2014I was just focusing on that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe were about 20 runs short\u201d<\/p>\n England have now lost five ODIs in a row against India on home soil\u2014an unsavoury record further extended by this loss in Southampton. Sophia Dunkley offered insight into where things went wrong and seemed to point to the batting, despite scoring 83 herself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were probably 20 runs short,\u201d said Dunkley about her team\u2019s batting.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we did really well to bring it as close as we did. Obviously, Deepti batted really well in the end with Jemimah, so yeah\u2014I do think we were ultimately 20 runs short.\u201d<\/p>\n