India opener Smriti Mandhana scored 48 off 48 balls, with Jemimah Rodrigues also contributing 29 as the hosts chased down a target of 127 at Wankhede Stadium with one over to spare; England skipper Heather Knight scored 52, but the side collapsed with the bat either side
Monday 11 December 2023 09:18, UK
India secured victory in the third and final T20 by five wickets, denying an off-colour England a series clean sweep.
India opener Smriti Mandhana scored 48 off 48 balls, with Jemimah Rodrigues also contributing 29 as the hosts chased down a target of 127 at Wankhede Stadium with one over to spare.
England fell to 76-8 as openers Sophia Dunkley (11 off 10 balls) and Maia Bouchier (golden duck off the third ball of the match) were removed early, with skipper Heather Knight registering a fine 52 off 42 balls to give England a respectable total.
After wicketkeeper Amy Jones - who built a healthy partnership with Knight - was removed for 25, England collapsed again, losing five wickets for just nine runs.
After Mandhana and Rodrigues had done the bulk of the required work for India, it was left to Amanjot Kaur to finish on 10 not out off four balls, getting the job done.
On losing the final game, Knight told TNT Sports: "It was a really good learning. We obviously decided to rest a few players and expose some of our younger players, I thought that was brilliant.
"The crowd were again really noisy and just having that composure will be a really good learning for those younger players coming in.
"India bowled very well and made it pretty tricky for us. We managed to get to a total that was sub-par in the game and did some really good stuff with the ball.
"Overall, I'm really happy with the series. I feel we've learned a lot, played in slightly different conditions and we've adapted to that quite nicely."
Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was rested for the final game, was named player of the series after scoring 93 runs and taking a couple of wickets in the first two matches.
