England’s Skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt Out of the Third T20I after Suffering a Groin Injury

England Women's side suffers a blow as newly appointed skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt suffers a groin injury and is ruled out of the third T20I against India at the Oval. She sustained the injury during England’s 24-run defeat in the second T20I in Bristol on Tuesday. The 32-year-old will miss Friday’s clash, and her participation in the rest of the series will be decided once the scan results come in.

In Sciver-Brunt’s absence, experienced batter Tammy Beaumont will lead the side. Though Sophia Dunkley is the official deputy of Sciver-Brunt, the experienced batter is given the leading role because England is already trailing 2-0 in the five-match series. It will be a tough challenge for Beaumont, as the batter will lead the English side for the first time in 247 matches.

"It's a real pride and honour to have the captain's armband tomorrow, albeit in difficult circumstances," Beaumont said. "Charlotte [Edwards, head coach] asked to meet me this morning, and straight away I said, 'Yep, thank you very much. I'll give it a good go.' I guess we need a bit of fight to come out in this series, and I'm probably someone who likes to get in a battle, so I can understand why."

It’s a huge blow for the England women's side—not just in the context of the series, but also in preparation for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup. Heather Knight was removed from the captaincy role under the new head coach, and a new skipper was appointed to start a new era. Though Sciver-Brunt and Edwards began with a white-ball clean sweep against West Indies, the Indian team has been the first real challenge for this partnership.

"The worst thing we could do right now is panic," Beaumont said. "Obviously, it's not the circumstance we wanted to be in. We didn't want to be 2-0 down, and we didn't want our captain and best batter to be out of the team. But we're here where we are, and that's what we've got to deal with.

"We've got to try and bring some calm to it, and some rationale, some logic. We certainly believe we can come back and win this. Full credit to India—they've challenged us, they've pushed us so far—but I hope that we can respond, and I'm certainly intending on getting the girls to try and respond to what's happened so far."

Beaumont was asked about the skipper’s return for the fourth T20I, but she said that it's impossible to comment on that at the moment. "That's something we don't know just yet—our medical team are doing all they can," Beaumont said. "She's got a scan today, so we'll know more, but I think it's in the balance for Manchester. But, whether it's one game or a couple, I'm just hoping to put my hand up for the team and do the best I can, and will welcome Nat back with open arms whenever she's fit."