Wyatt and Winfield steady ship after tourists slip to 56-4 chasing 112
Friday 8 March 2019 18:05, UK
Danni Wyatt struck an unbeaten 64 to steer England Women to a five-wicket win over India in the second T20 that secures a series-clinching 2-0 lead.
Opener Wyatt put on 47 for the fifth wicket with Lauren Winfield (29) to steady the ship after the tourists had slipped to 56-4 in Guwahati after restricting India to 111-8.
India were held in check by an impressive all-round bowling display by England, led by Katherine Brunt (3-17) and Linsey Smith (2-11).
Brunt started the rot by removing Smriti Mandhana (12), caught behind, after the captain put on a 24-run stand for the opening wicket with debutant Harleen Deol (14).
Only three other batsmen reached double figures - Mithali Raj top-scoring with 20 before being caught by Winfield off Kate Cross (1-17).
England's task of building on their 41-run win in the series opener proved anything but a formality though as Wyatt watched on from the other end as the top-order crumbled.
Tammy Beaumont, who struck 62 in that victory, fell early when she was bowled for eight by Radha Yadav and Amy Jones (five), Nat Sciver (one) and captain Heather Knight (two) all quickly followed as England lost three wickets for nine runs.
Wyatt showed great maturity as she compiled her fourth T20 fifty, working the ball around nicely and biding her time to strike six fours in her 55-ball knock, as she and Winfield repaired the damage.
India briefly held out hopes of a miracle escape when Winfield holed out off Deepti Sharma only for Wyatt to seal matters with a boundary with five balls to spare.
Reflecting on the win, Wyatt said: "It's great to win the series. It says a lot about us given the result in the ODI series and we're really proud of how we've bounced back.
"It hasn't been easy at all but we've shown a lot of character and resilience and we continued that today. The bowlers were brilliant - Katherine Brunt again stood up, and Laura Marsh and Linsey Smith were great again.
"I'm proud to have taken the team to the win. I've been challenged to finish more games off for England so it's a great feeling to do that. It's right up there next to my innings in Mumbai.
"We need to continue putting in performances like this, starting off with the final T20 on Saturday and then throughout the Sri Lanka series."
The hosts, whitewashed by New Zealand in their last T20 series, must now try to avoid the same fate at the hands of England when the sides meet in the third match of the series on Saturday.
