Women’s ODI: Hazell, Ecclestone send India into a spin

England spinners Danielle Hazell and Sophine Ecclestone bamboozled the India batters to keep the visitors afloat in the series with a convincing win in the second women’s ODI on Monday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium.

Not only did the emphatic eight-wicket win, with 21 overs to spare, help England level the three-match series, but it also kept its hopes alive of winning its maiden bilateral ODI series on Indian soil.

Perfect outing

Skipper Heather Knight didn’t have the ideal start on her return to the side after recovering from a hamstring injury, as she lost the toss. But for the rest of the day, it was a perfect outing for Knight and Co as India was just not up to the mark after Friday’s thrilling win.

The reliable Smriti Mandhana had little problem with the pitch that was slower than Friday’s with slightly more turn than the first ODI.

Despite being bowled off a free-hit in the third over, Mandhana looked solid against the medium-pacers Anya Shrubsole and Natalie Sciver, pulling the former for a six over deep-square in the fifth over.

Sensing the left-handed pair of Mandhana and Devika Vaidya was looking solid against pace, Knight introduced offie Hazell into the attack in the ninth over and the ploy worked.

Hazell got Devika to nick the fourth ball to wicketkeeper Amy Jones, who took a sharp catch. Two balls later, she got one to spin back in as it went through Mithali Raj’s gate and crashed into the middle stump.

The onus was on Harmanpreet Kaur to rebuild the innings with Mandhana. However, Harmanpreet lobbed a long-hop from Hazell straight to mid-on to leave India reeling at 47 for three.

Left-arm spinner Ecclestone took over from Hazell and wiped off India’s middle-order, which offered no resistance. The spin duo shared eight wickets, with Hazell returning a career-best four for 32. Such timid was India’s response to accurate bowling by the England spinners that batting for 50 overs became an impossible task.

In reply, the England openers virtually sealed the game during a quick-fire partnership in the 35 minutes they batted before the lunch break.

Despite losing Danielle Wyatt, whose drives were a treat to watch, and Jones in quick succession, Knight combined with opener Tammy Beaumont to see England home amidst loud cheers from a group of school children who enjoyed the action all through the day.

The scores: India 113 in 37.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 42, Deepti Sharma 26 n.o. Sophie Ecclestone four for 14, Danielle Hazell four for 32) lost to England 117 for two in 29 overs (Danielle Wyatt 47, Tammy Beaumont 39 n.o., Heather Knight 26 n.o. Ekta Bisht two for 44).