1ST ODI, ENGLAND W Vs INDIA W , SOUTHAMPTON, 2025 HIGHLIGHTS : Deepti’s Brilliant Batting Provided 1st ODI Victory Against England .
Deepti Sharma’s half-century and an all-round show by Sneh Rana were the two major highlights after India defeated England by four wickets in the first ODI to gain the upper hand in the three-match series here on Thursday. The series is now led, 1-0 by the visitors. Earlier, Young seamer Kranti Goud did well to pick two wickets upfront, while Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten 92-ball 83 took England to a challenging 258 for six. In addition to Goud, who took 2 for 55 in nine overs, off-spinner Sneh Rana (2/31 in 10 overs) was the other wicket taker with a tidy performance following England’s decision to bat. Deepti’s Brilliant Batting Provided 1st ODI Victory Against England .
TOSS-
England Women won the toss and elected to bat.
PLAYNG XI-
England Women Squad:
Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones (wk), Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Sophia Dunkley, Alice Davidson Richards, Charlotte Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell
India Women Squad:
Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Kranti Goud.
ENGLAND WOMEN-
India struck early when Goud bowled a jaffa that nipped back and disturbed the bails to send back in-form Amy Jones. In a fascinating cycle of events, Goud sent down three consecutive wides before firing in the jaffa. The 21-year-old took her second with a beautiful inswinger to pin Tammy Beaumont leg before. Then DRS reversed an on-filed not-out call, to show, in ball-tracking, three reds. Nat Sciver-Brunt (33) and Emma Lamb counterattacked with four boundaries in the final three overs of the PowerPlay.
India went spin at the top of the middle sets of overs but the boundaries flowed for England here, too, with the stand passing 50 as well. But just as it looked ominous for India, Rana had Lamb chipping one straight to mid-off. The canny offspinner snared Sciver-Brunt next over when Jemimah Rodrigues held a impressive catch at mid-wicket. The incoming pair of Dunkley and Davidson Richards dragged England back into the game though. They negotiated a rather calm phase of play controlled by the Indian spinners before the Indiana captain stroked her first boundary with a loft over the top in the 27th over.
To India’s frustration, both were put down as the hosts consolidated their innings, and the batters capitalised on their respective second chances. When they were not clearing the boundary they kept the score moving and Dunkley brought up a 68-ball fifty on her birthday. Davidson Richards fell to the landmark two overs later and was stumped, off Shree Charani, soon after. The hosts had a more fruitful final five overs than their opponents with 49 runs accumulated. It was Dunkley who did the bulk of the scoring during this passage with five boundaries while Sophie Ecclestone stuck around and made some useful runs before the half-centurion was dismissed on the final ball of the innings by Amanjot Kaur.
INDIA WOMEN-
India made a fine start to their reply. Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, the openers, took a couple of overs to settle in after which the former was strong through the onside. She was bringing out all the flicks and pulls, particularly against Lauren Bell. There were some backfoot punches to the fence by Rawal and the duo brought up 1000 partnership runs as a combination. But against the run of play, Mandhana’s innings was cut short when she edged behind.
Despite the wicket, India kept the mojo going with Rawal and Harleen Deol. The latter hit Lauren Filer for three boundaries, but in came Sophie Ecclestone, rolled for an eight-over spell after the PowerPlay, and, after conceding just 11 runs from her end, had Rawal bowled. Not long after, in a careless piece of running, Deol was run out after failing to ground her bat while in the crease. The hosts’ morning continued excellent as Harmanpreet Kaur was pinned LBW by Charlie Dean – the decision that was originally given as not out and then overturned on DRS.
It was the 90 runs stand between Rodrigues and Deepti that then changed the game. Dean was driven for four by both batters, Lamb struggling for control. Deepti slog-swept Bell to the loose for four and the run rate began snowballing. The hosts did not review a ball that hit Deepti on the pad and she was saved by ball-tracking with England missing a golden wicket opportunity with three reds tracking.
But they did go twice in quick succession when they removed Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh to bring themselves right back in to the contest as Deepti moved to 50. Ultimately, Amanjot and Deepti were ruthless in their boundary hitting and steered India home with 10 balls to spare.
Brief Scores:
England 258/6 in 50 overs (Sophia Dunkley 83, Alice Davidson Richards 53; Sneh Rana 2-31, Kranti Goud 2-55) lost to India 262/6 in 48.4 overs (Deepti Sharma 62\*, Jemimah Rodrigues 48; Charlie Dean 2-52, Sophie Ecclestone 1-34) by four wickets.