England levelled the one-day international series by thrashing India in a rain-affected encounter at Lord’s.
The match was initially reduced to 29 overs a side, with India trudging to a below-par 144-8 after being put into bat.
England were 102-1 in reply before another rain delay revised their target to 115 from 24 overs, which the hosts reached with 18 balls to spare, winning by eight wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Amy Jones finished 46 not out, having added 54 for the first wicket with Tammy Beaumont and 48 for the second with captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.
After heavy rain in the morning delayed the start until 15:00 BST, India’s batters struggled for fluency on a slow surface as they slipped to 72-5 inside 16 overs.
They failed to punish another inconsistent effort in the field from England, who dropped four catches and misjudged a couple more potential chances.
A crucial opportunity came in the fifth over when Lauren Bell dropped Smriti Mandhana in her follow-through on two, and the opener looked to be anchoring the innings despite wickets tumbling around her.
But the pressure told on Mandhana in the 21st over as she holed out to Charlie Dean off Linsey Smith for 42 from 51 balls, as only Deepti Sharma’s unbeaten 30 helped give the innings a glimmer of credibility.
England’s spinners bowled brilliantly in tandem throughout the innings, giving little away in miserly spells of 3-27 from Sophie Ecclestone, 2-28 for Smith and 1-31 for Dean.
The series decider – which will be England’s final competitive ODI before the autumn’s World Cup – takes place at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday.
More to follow.
