Harmanpreet Kaur: We lacked partnerships

England pacer Issy Wong celebrates the wicket of India opener Shafali Verma on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images

Indian bowlers put up a valiant effort with a below par total to defend before rookie Alice Capsey held her nerves to guide England to a seven-wicket win in the third Women's T20 International and also clinch the series 2-1.

India put up an inept batting performance, scoring only 122 for eight, courtesy wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh's 22-ball 33 and all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar's unbeaten 19 off 11 deliveries.

Indian batters were unable to navigate through the England spin bowling as the trio of Sophie Ecclestone (3-25), Sarah Glenn (2-11) and Bryony Smith accounted for six wickets.

Also Read: Confidence and calculative approach helped us level T20 series: Harmanpreet

Easy chase

England scored the runs in 18.2 overs, courtesy opener Sophia Dunkley's 49 off 44 and 18-year-old Caspey's unbeaten 38-run knock that took the hosts over the line and seal the three-match series 2-1.

Harmanpreet Kaur

"I think we were 20 runs short. Credit to our bowlers for keeping us in the game," India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said after the game.

"We just need to stick to our strengths. One needs to have a decent total in any format of the game. We need partnerships with the bat," she added.

Chasing 123, the home side were off to a brilliant start with both openers Dunkley and Danni Wyatt (22 off 23 balls) sharing a 70-run stand before India triggered a mini batting collapse by snaring three quick wickets in as many overs.

Earlier, India were in all sorts of trouble as they slipped to 75-7 before Ghosh and Vastrakar joined forces to take the visitors to a respectable total.

Openers depart early

Both openers, the big hitting Shafali Verma (5 off 12) and Smriti Mandhana (9 off 8) were dismissed in the first four overs.

Verma was first to go as she misjudged the pace of the delivery by Issy Wong (1-24) with the ball deflecting off her pads on to the wicket.

Smith then got the prized wicket of Mandhana as Ecclestone held on to a brilliant catch.

Brief scores
India 122-8 in 20 overs (R Ghosh 33, Deepti Sharma 24; S Ecclestone 3-25, S Glenn 2-11) lost to England 126-3 in 18.2 overs (S Dunkley 49, A Capsey 38') by seven wickets

Also Read: Need to get balance in batting order to close out games: Harmanpreet

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