England squeeze home against India after Katherine Brunt’s five-wicket haul

England’s women won the final match in their one-day series against India by two wickets in Mumbai with seven balls to spare after pulling off a determined run-chase.

With India already having won the series, England had slipped to 49 for five as they chased India’s 205 for eight seeking to avoid a series whitewash. But a middle-order partnership between the captain, Heather Knight (47), and Danni Wyatt, whose 56 was her maiden ODI half-century, put them back on track.

Katherine Brunt, who picked up five wickets, was the player of the match, with her 18 batting at No 9, combined with 33 off 53 balls from Georgia Elwiss, putting England within striking distance.

“Today was all about fighting and showing character – Katherine was outstanding and at 33 she’s still adding tricks to her game, that little spell got us back in the game,” Knight said. “I enjoyed batting with Danni, who always makes me smile, but Georgia and Katherine won it for us.”

The teams now switch to the Twenty20 format, with the three-match series in Guwahati beginning on Monday 4 March.

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source: theguardian.com