Harmanpreet & Co seek win at The Oval to seal maiden T20I series vs England
India players celebrate an England wicket during the first T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, recently. Pic/Getty Images
Harmanpreet Kaur’s Indian team are on the verge of history as they go into the third T20I against England at The Oval in London on Friday.
Having won the first two games, at Nottingham and Bristol, in the ongoing five-match series, the Indian women need to win just one of the remaining three to clinch their first-ever T20I series win over England — both at home or away.
England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt
The visitors have convincingly beaten the hosts in the first two games and will want to wrap-up the series in Game 3 itself and not allow England to fight back.
Opener Shafali Verma’s form is a big concern as she has managed just 20 and three so far. But being just 21 years old, the team management may want to give her a long rope, else they could bring in Harleen Deol, who is in tremendous form. Being on a roll, however, the team’s think tank will not want to disturb the combination.
England lead head-to-head
The T20 rivalry between India and England is only 19 years old, with the first clash having taken place at Derby in 2006, with the visitors winning that low-scoring game under the leadership of Mithali Raj. Since then, 32 T20Is have been played between the two, which include matches in bilateral series, tri-series, World Cups, and Commonwealth Games. India have won only 10, including the recent wins at Nottingham and Bristol, while England have been
triumphant in 22.
In England, India have played three series, besides a one-off game in 2006. They lost both games in 2012, and went down 1-2 in both 2021 and 2022.
This time though the Indians have turned things around with some excellent cricket. The spin quartet of Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav and new left-arm spinner Shree Charani have bowled well in tandem to trouble the English batters.
In both matches, England captain Nat Sciver-Blunt had chosen to chase a target and fell well short. So, it will be interesting to see if they continue the same strategy, or would want to bat first this time. On India’s part, they would be happy to defend too.
Past results matter
It is the first time that India have won two matches in a T20 series, be it here in England or back home. Their wins in bilateral series have come at Derby in 2006 (1-0), at Hove in 2021 (1-2), and again at Derby in 2022 (1-2). Their home wins were at the MCA-BKC ground in 2009-10 (1-2), none in 2018-19 (0-3), and at the Wankhede Stadium in 2023-24 (1-2).
Having lost seven series so far, a win this time would be a great achievement, especially since the next T20 World Cup will be played in England (June 12 to July 5, 2026).
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