Smriti Mandhana scripts history as India crush England by 97 Runs in Nottingham

India's stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana inscribed her name in golden letters in Indian cricket history as she became the first woman from the country to score centuries in all three formats. Her magnificent 112 off just 62 balls on Saturday (Jun 28) against England also registered the highest individual score by an Indian in women’s T20Is, surpassing Harmanpreet Kaur’s 103 at the 2018 T20 World Cup. Riding on her masterclass, India hammered England by a massive 97 runs in the opening T20I at Nottingham, marking England’s heaviest defeat in T20Is by runs.

Mandhana, leading the side in Harmanpreet Kaur's absence, was rock solid right from the start. She added 77 runs with Shafali Verma (20) for the first wicket and followed it up with a quickfire 94-run partnership with Harleen Deol (43 off 23 balls). Mandhana reached her half-century in 27 balls and went on to notch up her maiden T20I century in just 51 balls.

Also Read | IPL sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi fires India U-19 to dominant win over England

Thanks to Mandhana’s heroics, India posted a mammoth total of 210/5 in 20 overs. Despite a mini-collapse in the final overs, with Lauren Bell picking up 3/27, India went past the 200-run mark.

England, in reply, were struck in the spin web of debutant spinner Shree Charani, who picked 4/12. The hosts never recovered from early blows and were bundled out for just 113 in 14.5 overs. Only Nat Sciver-Brunt (66 off 42) showed some fight, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the defeat. With this win, India leads the five-match T20I series 1-0.

This result now stands as England’s worst T20I loss by runs, ahead of their 93-run defeat to Australia in 2019. They’ve suffered four of their five heaviest T20I defeats (by runs) against India or Australia.