IND-W A Vs ENG-W A: Shreyanka Patil Stars As India A Pull Off Thrilling Win Over England A In 1st T20I

New Delhi: Shreyanka Patil kept her calm and composure to defend 13 runs in the final to help India Women A overpower England Women A in the first T20 of the three-match series in Mumbai on Wednesday. Patil, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in Women’s Premier League, conceded five extras in the first ball but made a tremendous comeback as India prevailed by three runs.

Chasing 135 runs to win, England lost three wickets with just 40 runs on board before a 70-run stand between vice-captain Hollie Armitage (52) and wicket-keeper-batter Seren Smale (31) helped them revive at the Wankhede Stadium.

But Kashvee Gautam (2/23) brought India back in the game with two wickets – Smale and Issy Wong (2) in the 18th over. Earlier, India rode on knocks from Dinesh Vrinda (22), Disha Kasat (25) and Gnanananda Divya (22) to post 134/7 in 20 overs.

Patil said after the match that the Women in Blue were confident of winning the game. “It is a big platform for all of us. It happens, (but) how we come back is what matters. I would say maybe (India were) 10-15 runs short but then we were looking (at a total) around 130-140 because the wicket was slightly slower and we knew our bowlers could get the job done,” she said.

Brief scores: India Women’s A 134/7 in 20 overs (Vrinda Dinesh 22, Disha Kasat 25, Gnanananda Divya 22; Charlie Dean 2/19) beat England Women’s A 131/8 in 20 overs (Hollie Armitage 52, Seren Smale 31; Kashvee Gautam 2/23, Shreyanka Patil 2/26) by 3 runs.