Smriti, Harmanpreet, Yastika fifties help India to 7-wicket win

Opener Smriti Mandhana skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia struck halfcenturies as India Women handed England Women a sevenwicket defeat in the first ODI of the series here on SundayElecting to field the Indian bowlers capitalized on the conditions to restrict England to a modest 2277 in their allotted 50 overs at the County Ground hereThe batters then made hay as opener Mandhana topscored with 91 Harmanpreet remained unbeaten on 74 while Yastika Bhatia struck a 47ball 50 as India Women reached 2323 in 442 overs to take a 10 lead in the threematch seriesAlso Read Teammate Smriti Mandhana canrsquot believe birthday girl Jemimah is 22Mandhana set up the platform for the victory with a superb knock despite losing her partner Shafali Verma 1 early The score was three runs when Shafali failed to control an uppish flick and was caught by Charlie Dean at midwicket off Kate CrossMandhana found a good partner in Yastika as both of them raised 96 runs for the second wicket Yastika was the next to go as she was bowled by Dean as she came down to hoist the offspinner but was bowled through the gate as she missed the ball totally Yastika scored 50 off 47 balls hitting eight fours and a sixMandhana continued to build the innings in the company of skipper Harmanpreet as she missed the threefigure mark by nine runs Mandhana and Harmanpreet propelled India towards victory as they raised 99runs for the third wicket as they troubled the England bowlers no end Mandhana was out with the score at 198 in the 37th over as she was caught by Davidson Richards off CrossHarmanpreet remained unbeaten on 74 as she guided India past the target in the company of Harleen Deol 6 not out off 20 ballsFor England Kate Cross claimed 243 off her 10 oversIt was the Indian bowlers that set up the match for India as they restricted England Women to a modest totalMeghana Singh and Jhulan Goswami started the carnage for India as they reduced the hosts to 212 in the ninth over sending back Emma Lamb 12 and Tammy Beaumont 7 England did recover a bit from that but kept losing wickets at regular intervalsAlice DavidsonRichards topscored for England with an unbeaten 50 while Danni Wyatt contributed 43 Sophie Ecclestone struck 31 runs lower down the order as England recovered to cross the 200run markAlso Read The Hundred Smriti Mandhana smashes 31ball 57For India spinner Deepti Sharma was the most successful bowler with 233 off her 10 overs as six off the seven Indian bowlers in action claimed at least a wicket eachBrief scoresEngland Women 2277 in 50 overs Alice DavidsonRichards 50 not out Danni Wyatt 43 Sophie Ecclestone 31 Deepti Sharma 233 Jhulan Goswami 120 lost to India Women 2323 in 442 overs Smriti Mandhana 91 Harmanpreet Kaur 74 not out Yastika Bhatia 50 Kate Cross 243 by 7 wicketsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever