CWG 2022 Cricket: India women edge England to enter final

Birmingham: All-rounder Sneh Rana showed nerves of steel by choking runs in the death overs as the India women's cricket team pipped hosts England by four runs to enter the final of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Saturday.

Needing 165 to win, England were cruising at 132/3 after 16 overs, needing 33 runs off 24 balls for victory. But off-spinner Rana (4-0-28-2) made things difficult for the hosts with some tight bowling at the end, conceding only three runs in the 18th and nine in the final over.

England finished at 160/6 and even a last-ball maximum from Sophie Ecclestone couldn't save the day for the hosts with Harmanpreet Kaur's brigade earning a sweet revenge of the 2017 ODI World Cup final defeat at Lord's.

If Smriti Mandhana's 32-ball-61 was a treat for the eyes, Rana, Deepti Sharma (4-0-18-1) and Pooja Vastrakar (3-0-20-0) didn't err in line or length under pressure.

The match seemed to have decisively tilted in favour of England when Harmanpreet introduced Shafali Verma, whose gave away 15 runs in the 16th over.

But Deepti and Rana collectively gave away only six runs in the 17th and 18th over respectively.

Pooja leaked 13 runs in the 19th over but the Mandhana-Taniya Bhatia combination pulled off a brilliant run out of the dangerous Nat Sciver to change the course.

It was then left to Rana to bowl at least five good balls that assured a medal for India in the inaugural edition of women's cricket.

Earlier, Smriti Mandhana's elegant yet brutal knock of 61 along with Jemimah Rodrigues' useful 44 not out powered India to a healthy 164/5 against hosts England in the semi-final.

Mandhana's 32-ball assault in the Powerplay laid the platform while Rodrigues, who is finally doing justice to her enormous potential, improvised well during his 31-ball unbeaten stay at the crease.

Brief Scores: India 164-5 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 61, Jemimah Rodrigues 44 not out; Freya Kemp 2-23, Nat Sciver 1-26) beat England 160-6 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver 41, Danni Wyatt 35; Sneh Rana 2-28, Deepti Sharma 1-16) by four runs.

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