Mithali Raj Guides India To Series Win Over England

Mithali Raj Guides India To Series Win Over England

Mithali Raj stroked an unbeaten 84 as India Women beat England Women by five wickets.

©Action Images / Paul Harding

India Women 156-5 (Raj 84no) beat
England Women 152-9 (Edwards 57no, Dimri 3-18) by five wickets
Fourth One-Day International, Visakhaptnam
Scorecard | Series Averages

Mithali Raj stroked an unbeaten 84 to guide India Women to a series-clinching five-wicket win over England Women in the fourth One-Day International in Visakhaptnam, her innings putting her team into an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Raj was the only player on her team to pass 15 as India overtook England's score of 152 for nine in the 45th over to take their second win in a row in the series.

England's scored owed plenty to captain Charlotte Edwards, who made an unbeaten 57, facing 112 balls and hitting five fours and she was given support by Beth Morgan (20) and Danielle Hazell (21) while Caroline Atkins also made 20 at the top of the order.

England were unable to build any substantial partnerships, Preeti Dimri taking three for 18 and captain Jhulan Goswami returning three for 34.

Despite India also struggling to put together a partnership worth more than 41 between Raj and Rhumeli Dhar (14), Raj's innings, her second half-century of the series, kept them on course for the win.

Katherine Brunt, Laura Marsh, Jenny Gunn and Edwards all managed a wicket apiece but the wicket they really needed was that of Raj's and while she remained at the crease, India were always likely to win.

In the end, they got home with 32 balls to spare.

The final game is on Monday (1st March) in Mumbai.

© Cricket World 2010

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