Tammy Beaumont cemented her status as the world’s No 1-ranked batter in ODIs, hitting an unbeaten 87 – her fourth consecutive half-century in the format – as England cruised to an eight-wicket win in the first ODI against India.
Along with Nat Sciver (74 not out), the pair added 119 runs in just 116 balls for the third wicket, executing beautiful lofted drives and perfectly-placed sweeps in a dominant display at Bristol.
Sciver was dropped by Ekta Bisht at short fine leg on 12, while India were so desperate to dislodge Beaumont that they wasted a precious DRS review trying to remove her lbw in the second over of the chase; replays showed the ball from Pandey had swung well past leg stump.
Otherwise, the pair offered little hope to their opponents, the win coming, with 91 balls to spare, in ignominious fashion via a leg-side wide from Harmanpreet Kaur.
“We’re all maturing as players and working towards how we want to play for the World Cup,” Beaumont said at the close. “I’ve stopped believing in form. My role is to bat as long as possible for the team. I’ve been working on being ruthless and relentless as much as possible, and it seems to be working at the moment.”
“She’s a real rock for us,” was the captain Heather Knight’s verdict on Beaumont. “It’s brilliant to see her doing so well.”
Earlier, India had been restricted to an underwhelming 201 for eight by a well-disciplined performance from the England bowlers. Their captain, Mithali Raj, played the anchor role, reaching 72 from 108 balls before being bowled by an arm ball from Sophie Ecclestone (who claimed three for 40), but overall it was a disappointing effort after her side’s fourth-day batting heroics to save the Test here last week.
England had dented India’s hopes of putting on a big total within the first 10 overs, as openers Shafali Verma (15) and Smriti Mandhana (10) both fell cheaply. Verma, 17 – who was handed her ODI cap before the start of play – had made history before a ball was bowled by becoming the youngest cricketer to represent India in all three formats of the game.
For a few minutes, the future looked bright: Verma threaded the third ball she faced perfectly between mid-on and midwicket for a boundary, before launching Katherine Brunt over long-off. Brunt, though, had the last laugh, banging it in short, tempting Verma into the hook and having her caught at mid-on. Mandhana, meanwhile, fell trying to cut Anya Shrubsole, bottom-edging on to her own stumps.
That left India 27 for two at the end of the powerplay; and a further stultifying period of play ensued. Though Punam Raut and Raj shared a 56-run partnership for the third wicket, it took them 94 balls to do so. Raj, who is in the 22nd year of her international career looked distinctly out of her depth in English conditions, faced 43 balls before managing a boundary. There was almost relief when Ecclestone snaffled a catch at mid-off in the 26th over to see off Raut. Two overs later she intervened again, off her own bowling this time, to have Harmanpreet caught behind off another arm ball.
India rallied somewhat in the final 10 overs of their innings, adding 67 runs despite losing four more wickets. Deepti Sharma, fresh from hitting 29 not out and 54 in the Test last week, added 30 more to her series tally, while Pooja Vastrakar (15 off 17) took on Anya Shrubsole and won, sending the ball sailing back over her head to the boundary in an over which saw the England seamer punished for 15 runs.
Raj, meanwhile, upped her own game: having taken 95 balls to bring up her half-century, she added 22 more in the space of 13 balls, before Ecclestone cut things short. Face (and place?) saved, perhaps, but questions remain over how India might reinvigorate their flagging middle-order for the next two ODIs and beyond.
