Buoyed by a come-from-behind victory in the second T20 International and a semblance of return to form by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian women's team will eager to clinch the series in the third and final 'decider' T20I against England at Chelmsford - a day/night game - and leave the English shores on a high.
Fired by another brilliant fielding effort and some superb, tight bowling by their spin duo of Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma, India got out of jail as England, placed at one point at 106 for two, finished eight runs short of India's total at 140 in the second T20 on Sunday.
In another pleasing development, Harmanpreet, dogged by poor form throughout the England tour, promoted herself to number three in the match and finally looked like getting back her touch during her 25-ball 31-run cameo, which concluded two beautifully-struck sixes. "Harry Di coming back (into form) and hitting a few balls is very good for the team," said her vice-captain Smriti Mandhana in a virtual presser on Tuesday.
If India win this series, it will be T20 series success after the 2019 away triumph against the West Indies. However, it is unlikely that England would self-destruct from a commanding position again, as they did at Hove to allow the visitors to level the series.
"The win in the second T20I is very important and the way we fought back in the last five overs showed a lot of character from our bowlers and fielders. The victory has put us in a position to win the T20 series and draw the multi-series format," said Mandhana, who will turn 25 on July 18.
