After a hard-fought draw in the Test match at the County Ground, Bristol, England Women and India Women will clash in a three-match ODI series. The first ODI will be played at the same venue, on 27 June, a little less than four years after the two teams had met in a World Cup final at Lord’s.
England last played an ODI series in February, in New Zealand. They won that series 2-1. Before that, their last series was in end-2019, against Pakistan in Malaysia. In other words, there was no ODI cricket for them in all of 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic has hit all cricket, but women’s cricket has been affected significantly more than its male counterpart.
The English cricketers did get some practice in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Amy Jones (282 runs at 141, strike rate 116) and Heather Knight (223, 74.33, 98) were the most prolific run-getters. Expect them to play key roles here, along with Katherine Brunt (9 wickets at 8.33, economy 2.77) and Sophie Ecclestone (8, 14.25, 3.88). Sophie Dunkley had a an excellent tournament as well (196, 98, 95). After a fifty on Test debut, she is set to play her first ODI as well.
The Indians had no 50-over cricket in 2020, either. They had beaten South Africa at home 3-0 in October 2019 and West Indies in West Indies 2-1 the month after that. However, when South Africa returned this March, a jaded Indian team surrendered 1-4 at home – their first series defeat against them in 19 years.
And just like their English counterparts, the Indians, too, had some practice, in the Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy. Wicketkeeper Indrani Roy got 456 runs there, at 76 and a strike rate of 87. Still uncapped, Roy may make her international debut.
Sneh Rana, who picked up four wickets and scored a match-saving unbeaten 80 in the Test match, was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 18 wickets (at 12.67, economy 3.18). She is all set to make an limited-overs international comeback after five years.
Head to head
The teams are more or less evenly matched. England have won 37 times and India 30. On English soil, however, it reads 22-5 in England’s favour.
Likely XIs
England Women: Lauren Winfield-Hill, Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight (c), Nat Sciver, Amy Jones (wk), Sophia Dunkley, Fran Wilson, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross.
India Women: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey, Indrani Roy (wk), Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht.
Prediction
England to win and go 1-0 up in the series.