England 197 for 6 (Sciver-Brunt 77, Wyatt 75, Renuka 3-27) beat India 159 for 6 (Shafali 52, Ecclestone 3-15) by 38 runs
Wyatt, playing her 150th T20I, made a seamless return after seven weeks off, having withdrawn from the WBBL citing the onset of fatigue at the end of the English summer. Her 75 from 47 balls contained two sixes and eight fours. Sciver-Brunt reinforced what England had been missing when she sat out their surprise 2-1 T20I series loss to Sri Lanka in September, with a 53-ball 77 which was equally crucial in the visitors’ recovery. Having bowled sparingly in the white-ball portion of the Ashes after picking up a knee injury in the Test against Australia in June, Sciver-Brunt also picked up a wicket with her second ball, bowling Smriti Mandhana for just 6.
Renuka snared two wickets in as many balls – the fourth and fifth of the match, no less – to put England in terrible trouble at 2 for 2 as Sophia Dunkley’s batting woes continued. Having missed England’s white-ball series against Sri Lanka following a lean Ashes campaign and managed just one half-century amid a string of single-figure scores at the WBBL, Dunkley returned to the starting XI at the expense of Maia Bouchier, who had held the openers’ position in her absence.
But when Dunkley pressed down on the second ball she faced from Renuka, she founder herself in a tangle as the ball ricocheted off her elbow and onto the stumps. Renuka then removed Alice Capsey for a first-ball duck with a gem of a delivery that zeroed in on off stump as Capesy played inside it, only to hear the definitive clatter behind her. Sciver-Brunt survived the hat-trick ball but Renuka’s early inroads had India looking buoyant and marked a welcome return for their pace spearhead, playing her first international match since February after overcoming a stress injury.
Sciver-Brunt, Wyatt steady things
Sciver-Brunt and Wyatt brought the home side back down to earth with their third-wicket stand to build England’s recovery to 140 for 3 by the time Wyatt advanced to debutant left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque and was stumped by Richa Ghosh. Wyatt should have been out moments after bringing up her half-century, but Pooja Vastrakar dropped a sitter at long-on off India’s other debutant, offspinner Shreyanka Patil. Two balls earlier, Shreyanka put down a low return catch off Sciver-Brunt, on 45 at the time. Both chances bookended Wyatt’s thundering six over long-off, her second maximum. Shreyanka eventually grabbed her first wicket, deceiving England captain Heather Knight with a full, straight delivery that crashed into off stump.
Sciver-Brunt and Wyatt had raised the tempo right after the halfway point of the innings and Sciver-Brunt rammed home the advantage as she plundered four fours off one Vastrakar over, which went for 19 in all. It took Renuka’s return to the attack to remove Sciver-Brunt in the penultimate over, enticing an edge which Ghosh collected via an excellent dive to her right, ending an excellent knock which included 13 fours. Harmanpreet Kaur kept faith with Shreyanka to deliver the last over and she conceded 16 from it before Jemimah Rodrigues took a catch just inside the deep midwicket boundary to remove Amy Jones after a neat nine-ball cameo worth 23 on the final ball with England falling just shy of the 200-mark which had looked so out of reach in the opening stage of the match.