Dani Wyatt becomes Saika Ishaque’s maiden international wicket

Put in to bat, England recovered admirably after twin strikes in the opening over through a sizeable 138-run stand between Wyatt and Nat Sciver-Brunt (77 off 53 balls) to post an imposing total of 197/6 in the 1st T20I at the Wankhede on Wednesday. Danielle Wyatt served a timely reminder of her shot-making pedigree ahead of the second WPL auction with a match-winning 75 off just 47 balls to set up a 38-run victory. Shafali Verma’s spirited fifty, amidst regular jolts, could only take India to 159/6 in reply.

India were 110/3 at the end at 13 overs, practically similar to that of England’s 120/2. Both teams had set batters in the middle, but unfortunately the spin challenge of England was too good. Sophie Ecclestone conceded just 8 runs and picked up 2 wickets in her last 2 overs, while Sarah Glenn removed the dangerous-looking Richa Ghosh in the final over of her quota.

Brief scores: England 197/6 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 77, Danni Wyatt 75; Renuka Thakur 3-27) beat India 159/6 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 52; Sophie Ecclestone 3-15) by 38 runs