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5th over: India 42-0 (Verma 13, Mandhana 28) Better from England as Flier bangs it in short to Verma. One is called a no-ball as the slower ball slips out of her hand, but no boundaries and just four runs from that set means England have a rare moral victory in these early exchanges.
4th over: India 38-0 (Verma 11, Mandhana 27) Three boundaries for the skipper in that saet. Smith is into the attack and Mandhana feasts on her left-arm finger spin. She kicked things off with two fours, one cut away off the back foot and the other mowed over square leg. A pair of singles brings Mandhana back on strike for the last ball and she clears her front leg and heaves it over mid-on for another four. India are flying!
3rd over: India 24-0 (Verma 10, Mandhana 14) Verma survives a caught behind decision after getting sconed by Arlot’s vicious bumper. Still, that’s Verma’s over as she clattered boundaries either side of that moment. The first was boshed past mid-off and the second, after a skip down the track, was scythed through cover.
Review! Flier, into the attack, has landed a ripper of a bouncer. Has Verma edged it? NO! It’s hit her helmet. My goodness, what a bumper that is. But the original decision of out is reversed.
2nd over: India 16-0 (Verma 2, Mandhana 14) Mandhana pastes two boundaries, one down the ground from a slower ball from Arlott, the other flayed over the slips. But the opener should be in the shed. She hoiked an ugly pull that looped towards midwicket where Capsey totally lost sight of the ball. It almost landed on her head! So the batters completed a single. What a let off that is.
1st over: India 6-0 (Verma 1, Mandhana 5) Bell is full and straight and looking for swing. Verma gets off the mark with a bunt down the ground before Verma creams a drive past the bowler for four, showing off the bat maker's logo as she does so. Verma firmly drives again but it’s half-stopped at mid-off so they scamper through for a single. Bell adjusts her length and gets away with the half-tracker as Verma fluffs the pull straight to mid-on. Verma then nails the final ball on the drive but clatters the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Lauren Bell has the ball in her hands.
After a short moment of silence remembering the victims of the Air India 171 crash, we’re ready to go.
“The pitch will remain good,” says Ravi Shastri. Let’s get cracking!
Charlotte Edwards was chatting the BBC Radio earlier:
There’s a real excitement around this series for us. A big opportunity to play at some bigger grounds and test ourselves against one of the best teams in the world.
This is going to be a tougher test for us [than West Indies]. This India batting line-up provides us with an opportunity to expose some of our young bowlers and a new bowling group in many ways. It gives us an opportunity to look at options.
I think the great thing about this group is we’re learning all the time
Here’s the official line from the BCCI on Harmanpreet’s injury:
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been rested for the first T20I against England Women in Nottingham as a precautionary measure following a head injury [not a hand injury as I reported earlier] sustained during the T20 Warm-up match against ECB Select XI. She’s being closely monitored by the medical team and is recovering well. Smriti Mandhana is leading the side in her absence"
No Charlie Dean. Hmmm. Is that a mossed trick? Sure, conditions in India are different to Nottingham – one of the better decks in the UK – but I’d be getting miles in the arms of all spinners ahead of a World Cup on the sub continent. Also, Dean v Mandhana seems like match-up I’d want if I were an England captain.
Teams
Tammy Beaumont and Sophie Ecclestone return. Two big players. Flier and Bell will tear in with seam and swing.
As expected Shafali Verma makes her way back to the top of India’s order. Harampreet is out with a head injury. Shree Charani, the left arm finger spinner, makes her debut
England: Dunkley, Wyatt-Hodge, Sciver-Brunt (c), Beaumont, Jones (wk), Capsey, Arlott, Ecclestone, Flier, Smith, Bell.
India: Mandhana (c), Verma, Deol, Rodrigues, Kaur, Ghosh (wk), Sharma, Yadav, Reddy, Rana, Shree Charani
England win the toss and bowl
A shouting Ravi Shastri gets us underway as Nat Sciver-Brunt opts for a chase.
She’s going with a ‘fairly heavy pace attack’. Juicy.
She says that selecting the side was “very difficult”.
Smriti Mandhana would have bowled first as well. Time for India to get things in order with a home World Cup around the corner.
Toss in a few minutes. Big question if Sophie Ecclestone will slot straight back into the side after a break. For my money she’s the best white ball bowler in the world. And is one of those rare power hitters who can tonk sixes from the word go. She simply has to play if she’s fit and in the right head space.
How great is this?! Anything that makes this beautiful sport more accessible in any way gets a boost on the OBO:
We’ve already been treated to an England v India epic this summer.
I love it men’s and women’s tours coincide with one another. It adds to the intrigue, narrative and bragging rights.
Not that this match serves as a side quest but worth a refresh on that cracking Test at Headinlgey:
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Charlotte Edwards’ tenure as England coach has got off to a perfect start, winning all six matches against the West Indies across.
It might be too early to attach a suffix to this team (Chazball maybe?) but a 100% record is a 100% record. After the Ashes thumping, it’s job done so far.
India will provide a sterner test. The third-ranked team in both ODIs and T20Is have a clutch of star batters including the returning 21-year-old Shafali Verma who makes a comeback after falling out of favour during India’s sorry T20 World Cup campaign last year.
Their bowling stocks aren’t as well supplied and we could see a couple of new faces across the tour.
England will start as favourites on home soil but will know a slip in the opening game will open old wounds. Edwards and her skipper, Nat Sciver-Brunt, will want to lay down a marker early doors.
Will they continue to fly the flag of Chazball (I’m doubling down on the moniker), or will they slide back against decent opposition?
We’ll find out together.
Play starts at 2:30pm.
Toss and teams and other bits to come til then.
If you’d like to get in touch, drop me a line.
