Sophia Dunkley hailed England’s fighting spirit after they got themselves back into the five-match T20 series with a five-run victory over India to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
India needed six off the final ball but Lauren Bell held her nerve to have Harmanpreet Kaur caught by Sophie Ecclestone and mid-off as England kept the series alive.
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Dunkley top-scored with 75 and put on 137 for the opening wicket with Danni Wyatt-Hodge before a dramatic collapse saw them finish on 171 for nine.
Lauren Bell celebrates the final wicket (Steven Paston/PA)
“It was an incredible game and to take it down to the last ball was great fight from us and our bowlers did well to take it that deep.” Dunkley said.
“I thought Tamsin (Beaumont) was outstanding today.
“She’s really strong with us about backing ourselves, staying in the fight was big for us today and we were definitely not at our best in all three departments but we fought through it and we got the win which is most important.”
Sophie Ecclestone claimed two important catches and the vital wicket of Shafali Verma as England fought back in the field after India had themselves run away to a fast start.
“We were pretty happy with the score we got but we left 15 or 20 runs out there for sure and it wasn’t easy to start on,” Dunkley added.
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“We knew if we bowled to our strengths we could restrict them through the middle so we were positive and I thought the bowlers were good tonight.
“We did drop catches and it wasn’t perfect but the most important thing is we got the win.”
Arundhati Reddy was the pick of the India attack with three for 32 and said: “I thought England bowled well, it’s a tough loss for us and we were in the game until 16th over.
“Credit should be given to England because they executed their plan very well.”
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