Image Credit- ECB
An ideal Wankhede surface for batting. shorter limits.
The broadcasters said it should be a “belter” at the pitch report.
All of that was, however, rendered irrelevant by a masterful show of poise and
flexibility from England’s bowlers as well as errors in judgement from India’s
hitters.
On a pitch with little turn, it was an instance of
India’s batters being unsure of their approach. The ball was “skidding
on,” as players from both teams acknowledged, but it was also because
England’s bowlers were so adept at changing up their lengths and speeds. There
were “no real demons” in the pitch, according to Charlie Dean. It was
a “tricky pitch” for Deepti Sharma.
On Saturday morning, offspinner Dean was informed that
she would have to open the bowling to face left-handed Smriti Mandhana. She
went above and beyond what was required of her. She also had a stomach ailment
going into the game, having missed the first Twenty20 International. But in
just eight deliveries, she caused havoc for India, so her impact was seen right
away.
Shafali Verma played the next ball with a similar
delivery for the turn and attempted to push it into the leg side after playing
the previous delivery, a length ball on off stump, straight back to Dean. After
being trapped squarely in front, she left to go find a duck. In 43 T20Is, that
also was Verma’s 20th dismissal to an off-spinner.
“There were quite a lot of wickets today in the
game,” Dean said after the match. “I wouldn’t have any complaints on
the pitch myself. Of course, I wouldn’t, I’m a bowler, I didn’t get a chance to
have a bat out there but that’s good. A lot of our guys were saying it’s
skidding on a bit but no real demons in the pitch. I guess just pressures and
weaknesses in certain areas.
“We executed our plans really well and so did
India, to be fair they set really aggressive fields. They had to because of the
way that game was dictated.”
With her clever variations and stump-to-stump
deliveries, Ecclestone ensured that India was kept under pressure during the
middle overs, as they failed to hit a boundary for forty balls. In an attempt
to give India a boost, Rodrigues broke the pressure with two swift boundaries.
But after two wildly inaccurate deliveries, Glenn adjusted her length, and she
went out LBW while attempting to play one into the leg side. At that point,
everything collapsed.
England expeditiously concluded the match by thrashing
India for 80 points, their lowest T20I total against England.