India look to seal the series against England in the second T20I at Bristol
India Women can put the T20I series against England beyond reach on Saturday, with a win in the second match at Bristol giving them an unbeatable 2-0 lead and one game to spare.
India go in full of confidence after a 38-run win in the opener at Chelmsford, a result built on a recovery that said plenty about the batting depth they will lean on this summer. They also expect captain Harmanpreet Kaur back at Bristol after she sat out the first game, with Smriti Mandhana having led the side in her absence.
How India won the first game
India were in trouble at 7 for 2 after Lauren Bell removed both openers inside the first over, only for Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia to turn the innings around. Rodrigues made 69 from 40 balls and took the player-of-the-match award, Bhatia matched her with 54, and their stand of 126 hauled India to 188 for 7.
The bowlers finished the job. England never got near the rate they needed and were held to 150 for 8, a margin that left little argument about who had played the better cricket.
What is at stake at Bristol
With the series at 1-0 and only three matches on the schedule, Saturday is the day India can wrap it up. A win at the Seat Unique Stadium would settle the contest before the teams move on to Taunton for the final game on June 2. England, beaten at home in the opener and without the injured Nat Sciver-Brunt, need to level the series or lose it at the first time of asking.
Charlie Dean led England at Chelmsford in Sciver-Brunt's absence, and the hosts will want a sharper batting effort after being kept so quiet. Bristol has tended to reward stroke play, and a bigger first-innings total would ask harder questions of whichever side bats second than India faced in the opener.
Eyes already on the World Cup
The series doubles as India's last serious preparation before the Women's T20 World Cup, which England and Wales host from June 12. There is a neat overlap too, with Bristol's County Ground among the seven World Cup venues. The early wobble at Chelmsford and the way the middle order answered it is exactly the sort of test India will want to keep passing before the tournament starts.
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