England Take 13th Win In A Row By Beating India

England Take 13th Win In A Row By Beating India

Sarah Taylor scored an excellent half-century to set up England's win

©REUTERS / Action Images

England Women 137-5 (Taylor 69, Marsh 41) beat
India Women 104-8 (Wyatt 2-10) by 33 runs
First Twenty20 International, Canterbury
Scorecard

England Women opened their international season with a convincing 33-run win over India Women in the opening Twenty20 International in Canterbury.

Sarah Taylor and Laura Marsh shared a 104-run partnership for England's second wicket and their eventual score of 137 for five was beyond India, who closed on 104 for eight.

Taylor (69 in 49 balls) and Marsh (41 in 39) came together after captain Charlotte Edwards was trapped in front by Nagarajan Niranjana.

Taylor played a classy innings with ten boundaries, consistently finding the gaps in the field and although Gouher Sultana's double strike to remove both to precipitate something of a collapse as Lydia Greenway (8) and Jenny Gunn (10) fell cheaply, England had enough runs no the board.

Katherine Brunt struck twice on her return to the side to dismiss openers Amita Sharma and Punam Raut, both for nine, and both struggling to deal with pace and swing.

Mithali Raj stood firm to make 26 in 34 balls while Harmanpreet Kaur hit 15 but both struggled to accelerate as required and lost their wickets to Holly Colvin.

Promoting Veda Krishnamurthy didn't come off as she fell for three before wicket-keeper Sulakshana Naik finally provided some much-needed impetus with 25 in 21 balls.

It was, however, far too little, far too late, and England wrapped up a comprehensive win with Danielle Wyatt applying the finishing touches with two for 10.

They were too strong for India on every level - more power and finesse with the bat, far more incisive with the ball and outstanding in the field as they made it 13 straight victories in Twenty20 International cricket.

The second and final game is at Chelmsford on Thursday (28th June).

© Cricket World 2012