Spinner Ekta Bisht, who starred in India's 66-run win over England, hails team's fighting spirit after clawing their way back to take series lead
India spinner Ekta Bisht (centre) celebrates the wicket of England's Alex Hartley with teammate Taniya Bhatia during the first ODI at Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pics/Suresh Karkera
At 111 for 3, chasing a 203-run target, England Women were in cruise control with skipper Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver putting on 76 for the fourth wicket. What happened thereon brought a few hundred Indian fans at Wankhede Stadium on their feet.
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Sciver was run out on 44 by Ekta Bisht, who then orchestrated one of the most dramatic collapses in international cricket. England lost seven wickets for 25 runs and were bowled out for 136 in 41 overs, thanks to left-arm spinner Bisht's 4 for 25 in eight overs which included three wickets in her last over to skittle out the visitors. India won the first of the three ODIs by 66 runs.
England's Natalie Sciver en route her innings of 44 yesterday
The other spinner - Deepti Sharma - claimed two wickets as she dismissed England opener Tammy Beaumont (18) and Danielle Wyatt (1). Bisht said the aim was to fight till the end. "We decided not to give up. The team did that. We fielded well and bowlers like Jhulan [Goswami], Shikha [Pandey] backed us up well," Bisht said. India too experienced a mini-collapse at the top, losing four wickets for 10 runs after Deepti was stumped by Sarah Taylor for seven.
The hosts then lost Jemimah Rodrigues (48), debutant Harleen Deol and Mona Meshram in the space of seven balls. However, unlike England, India managed to steady their ship with skipper Mithali Raj (44) and Taniya Bhatia (25) with a 54-run sixth wicket stand. England skipper Knight, who remained unbeaten on 39, felt the target was chaseable.
"The total was perfectly chaseable. We bowled well, but were unlucky not to take more wickets up front. But we were more than happy with 200 to chase. It was sticky, it turned but once you got to play 15-20 balls, it became easier to play shots. The first 10-15 balls were the key," she said.
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