Ecclestone guides England to consolation win in final-ball thriller against India

England scraped a consolation five-wicket win in the final T20 at Edgbaston on Saturday evening, chasing down their 168-run target off the final ball.

England needed six runs off the final over, but Tammy Beaumont was bowled playing across the line to the first ball of Arundhati Reddy’s 20th over, before Amy Jones fell to a spectacular flying catch by Radha Yadav at deep midwicket.

But with five runs needed from three balls, Sophie Ecclestone sprinted three after an Indian fumble in the deep, Paige Scholfield managed a single out into the off side, and the Indian shy at the stumps went wide and allowed Ecclestone to make her ground for the necessary single.

The platform had been set after Danni Wyatt-Hodge celebrated becoming only the second woman (after Charlotte Edwards) to claim 300 caps for England by scoring 56 from 37 balls and sharing another century partnership with Sophia Dunkley.

Off-spinner Charlie Dean claimed the player of the match award for her three wickets, which helped England peg India back after a dominant opening 10 overs. “It was a pretty tense game,” Dean said. “It’s a good way to show our character and what we’re about as a team.

“I took my shoes off pretty early [in the chase], three overs in, and I was like, ‘Oh, brilliant. We’ve got this.’ And then as the overs ticked down and runs were still there, I was like, ‘Oh, I might have to stay in kit here.’ But chases are tricky and sometimes it doesn’t matter how you get there, it matters that you get over the line.”

But the narrow margin, and the 3-2 series loss, has revealed the scale of the task facing the head coach, Charlotte Edwards, if she is to change her team’s fortunes in time for the home World Cup next summer.

View image in fullscreen Radha Yadav dismisses Amy Jones with a stunning catch off the bowling of Arundhati Reddy. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters

England’s middle order once again wobbled perilously in pursuit of their target, replicating the panic of the third T20, as what should have been an easy run chase turned into a desperate one and was only successful thanks to some lethargic Indian fielding.

This time it was India who shelled crucial catches, putting Wyatt-Hodge down at short fine leg on five. Then, after the opener miscued Deepti Sharma to midwicket in the 12th over, Shree Charani dropped a sitter at short third off Jones at a crunch point in the run chase.

Earlier, with Lauren Filer and Lauren Bell rested before the ODIs, Warwickshire’s Em Arlott and Issy Wong were tasked with opening the bowling on their home ground but both took a hammering, conceding more than 40 runs apiece as India reached 167 for seven after being put in to bat.

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Wong suffered particularly at the hands of Shafali Verma, who smashed 20 of her 75 runs off one over by the seamer. For Verma, it was a welcome comeback: her first international half-century since being dropped by India last year.

England were grateful to have Maia Bouchier back in the fold: she has always been one of their best outfielders, and showed it here, clasping on to a brilliant running catch at wide long-on to see off Verma in the 13th over, and another in the 19th which got rid of Richa Ghosh.

But Bouchier’s inclusion came at the expense of Alice Capsey, who now faces an uncertain path back to the England T20 side. England have no official T20 internationals in the calendar until May of next year – a feat of scheduling which seems both bizarre and counterproductive, given the yawning gap between their current output and their desire to feature in a home final at Lord’s next July.

Dean described the schedule as “a bit weird”. “Our winter calendar feels a little sparse,” she said. “We’re playing a lot of cricket at the moment – the girls can go and play in the WBBL, the WPL. [But] it would be good for us to play as many games as possible as a team.”

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