Skipper Mithali Raj's valiant half-century was in vain as England Women won the first ODI of the three-match series by eight wickets in Bristol on Sunday, riding on Tammy Beaumont and Nat Sciver's aggressive unbeaten fifties (June 27). Mithali led from the front with a patient 72, guiding India Women to a modest 201-8 after being put in to bat.
Following two early dismissals, Mithali held India's innings together. She contributed 56 runs with Punam Raut (32) and 65 runs with Deepti Sharma (30) to help India surpass the 200-run mark.
England Women, on the other hand, cruised home with 91 balls to spare, thanks to opener Beaumont's (87 not out off 87 balls) and Sciver's (74 off 74 balls) unbroken 119-run third-wicket partnership in just 19 overs. England lost Lauren Windfield-Hill (16) early in the chase, but Beaumont and skipper Heather Knight (18) combined for 59 runs for the second wicket to put the hosts back on track.
However, Knight was caught off guard by a lovely delivery from left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht (1/55) that turned just enough after pitching to beat an onrushing England captain's bat and disturb the timbers.
Sciver, on the other hand, didn't let Bisht get comfortable, pulling and driving straight past the bowler for two boundaries in the spinner's next over.
Beaumont maintained her aggressive attitude, sweeping Deepti Sharma to the square-leg boundary to bring up her fifty in 48 balls.
On Sunday, Shafali became the youngest Indian cricketer to make her debut across formats when she miscued a Katherine Brunt (2/35) delivery to Anya Shrubsole at mid-on in the fifth over. When Shrubsole (2/33) went through her defence, Smriti Mandhana (10) quickly followed before Punam and Mithali resurrected the innings.
Punam left when the partnership was just getting started, handing a simple catch to Sophie Ecclestone off Kate Cross.
Harmanpreet Kaur's (1) poor form continued, as she didn't trouble the scorers much, only sneaking one to Amy Jones off Ecclestone (3/40). Early on, experienced campaigner Mithali struggled. She struggled to find boundaries, scoring her fifty in 95 balls with a four off Shrubsole.
Mithali then added 65 runs for the fifth wicket with Deepti before being caught LBW by Shrubsole. However, Mithali quickly changed gears and hit three boundaries in an over, slicing and lofting Shrubsole to amass 15 runs off the 44th over.
Mithali looked dangerous until Ecclestone got rid of her in the 46th over, as India slumped to 180 for 6. Shikha Pandey (3) and Jhulan Goswami (1) both remained unbeaten as India passed the 200-run mark.
