A fine half-century from Smriti Mandhana and yet another aggressive knock from Richa Ghosh prove insufficient as India Women lost by 11 runs to England in a Women’s T20 World Cup match at St George’s Park in Gqeberha, South Africa.

England should also be lauded for producing a superb bowling performance to successfully defend their total of 151/7. Despite Mandhana making 52 off 41 balls, India’s run rate slowed down through the middle overs as England’s spinners took control of the game.

Sophie Ecclestone was the stand-out bowler for England once again, picking up 1/14 from her four overs and strangling India’s batters at a crucial point of the match.

A late charge from Richa, who stayed unbeaten on 47 from 34 balls, was not enough as India finished on 140/5.

Earlier, Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bowl and Renuka Thakur responded splendidly by removing all of England’s top three batters inside the Powerplay.

The score was 37/3 by the end of the Powerplay, with England relying on Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight to lead the recovery.

And they did just that, putting on 51 runs through the middle overs before Knight was caught at mid-off. A fine contribution from Amy Jones (40 off 27 balls) also helped England cross the 150-mark.

With three wins England stayed on top of Group 2, with India second.

Smriti to lead

Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore have expectedly named senior India batter Smriti Mandhana as their captain for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL).

The left-handed opener, who is also the India vicecaptain, was roped in by the Bangalore franchise for Rs 3.40 crore, the highest price for a player in the WPL, at the auction recently held in Mumbai.

The announcement was made through a video shared on the franchise’s social media handles, which had messages from RCB talisman Virat Kohli and current men’s team skipper Faf du Plessis.

“Now it’s time for another No. 18 to lead a very special RCB team in WPL. Yes, we are talking about Smriti Mandhana. Go on Smriti. You will have the support of the best team and the best fans in the world,” Kohli said.

On her role as the RCB women’s team captain, Mandhana said: “It is such a great feeling to see Virat and Faf speak so much about leading RCB and I would like to thank the RCB management for giving me this amazing opportunity. I promise you to give my 100 per cent.”

Written with inputs from PTI