England Women vs India Women, 1st T20I, India Women tour of England 2026 - CommentaryENGW vs INDW, 1st T20I, India Women tour of England 2026 - Commentary

India won the series last time they were here. And once again have looked a superior team. England are figuring their best possible XI before the WC. But they have to win the next game to keep the series alive. India will look to keep gaining momentum. We will be back soon for the second T20I. Bye bye for now...

Smriti Mandhana: Losing two wickets in the powerplay was not ideal. Credit to Yastika who came back after 8 months. She took the game away. Jemi doing Jemi things. We should have scored 10 more runs though. Fielding second is an advantage. We had lot of inputs from Jemi and Yastika. All the bowlers were executing their plans. They were calm under pressure. Nandni is a character. She has a lot of fire. She picked up crucial wickets and bowled some crucial overs.

Charlotte Dean: Two early wickets. But they kept scoring runs despite those early wickets. They had wickets in hand. Played really well. Proud of the effort in hot conditions. Bell bowled well at the start and the death. Disappointing not to get over the line. Reminiscent of the game we had against NZ in Canterbury. Jones was brilliant. Today, the difference was that massive partnership. We are working on a younger middle-order.

Jemimah Rodrigues, Player of the Match: Lot of credit to Yastika. She took load of me. That partnership was crucial. We assessed the conditions well. I think it was about playing the situation. T20 is all about momentum. It was important to be positive and patient. Initially, Bell got some movement. For an English pitch, there was some hold. Playing square of the wicket helped. My game is more about picking gaps. I trust my instincts and play my game. I enjoy fielding. Today, felt like a yo-yo session. I love fielding in the hot spots.

- Nandni Sharma is the second Indian pacer to pick a 3-fer on Women’s T20I debut, after Soniya Dabir 3/23 vs ENG-W in Mumbai in 2010.

- 38-run victory is the India Women’s second-biggest win margin against England Women in T20Is, after 97 runs at Trent Bridge in 2025.

- This was England Women’s only third defeat in 15 T20Is at Chelmsford and their first against India there in three matches.

21:39 Local Time, 20:39 GMT, 02:09 IST: India have been clinical. They have defended 189 with elan. Jones batted well and crafted a fifty but she didn't get any support from the other end. Indian seamers struck early as Gaud picked up a couple with the new ball. Knight played a poor knock as India controlled the phase after the 10-over mark. England were well short of the chase. India have taken a 1-0 lead. India earlier managed to get to 188 after losing a couple of wickets in the first over. They didn't have Kaur for this game but that hasn't stopped them from winning this and bossing the game for a major part of it. Even the debutant Nandni Sharma sizzled with a 3-fer on debut. Charani as usual was frugal. Deepti did spray it around a little but did enough to keep England starved during the chase.

Arundhati Reddy to Charlie Dean, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!