Danielle Wyatt smashes ton, England crush India to achieve highest chase in women’s Twenty20

Danielle Wyatt scored her second hundred in women’s T20 to power England to their second win in the tri-series, achieving the highest chase in Women’s Twenty20 cricket as they chased down 198 against India.

A large number of school kids that had turned up to cheer India on Sunday celebrated wildly during the mid-innings break, anticipating a victory over England in the women’s T20 tri-series game.

Danielle Wyatt became the second player after Deandra Dottin to score two hundreds in a women’s Twenty20 International as her 124 helped England beat India by six wickets.(AP)

India, after all, had posted 198/4, their highest ever in T20s, and never in the history of women’s T20I had any team successfully chased a target in excess of 181.

However, 18.4 overs later, the stands wore a sombre look and the kids had gone silent. England opener Danielle Wyatt slammed a whirlwind 64-ball 124 to power her team to a seven-wicket win, their second, at Brabourne Stadium.

Wyatt (15x4, 5x6), who had famously announced she would use the bat presented by India skipper Virat Kohli, clobbered 15 fours and five sixes, emulating West Indies’ Deandra Dottin by slamming two hundreds in women’s T20s.

The 26-year-old batted like a player possessed as she took the Indian attack to the cleaners, giving her side the second consecutive win in the tournament.

India rode on Mithali Raj’s 43-ball 53 and Smrithi Mandhana’s 40-ball 76 to post 198/4. However, the total was not enough as Danielle Wyatt cut loose.

She went after the Indian bowling from the first over, sending Jhulan Goswami’s deliveries to the fence thrice in six balls. She was equally ruthless against pacers and spinners and played some jaw-dropping shots over the head of the bowlers.

Danielle Wyatt reached her hundred in only 52 balls, and when she holed out to long-on, her team needed only 16 off 18 balls. Natalie Sciver and Heather Knight completed the formalities.

Smriti Mandhana earned the distinction of scoring the fastest fifty by an Indian in women’s T20 when she hit a half century off just 25 balls. (AFP)

Wyatt’s knock overshadowed Smriti Mandhana’s 76 (12x4, 2x6) after England won the toss and asked India to bat.

On the eve of the match, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur had spoken about the importance of making the powerplay overs count and openers Mandhana and Mithali Raj did exactly that.

Both began cautiously and dealt in singles for the first two overs before launching an onslaught in the third over. Mandhana, as usual, was the more aggressive and got going with two fours and one six off Katie George in the fourth over.

Mithali, who had looked subdued in the first match against Australia, also played some delightful strokes as India raced to 52 for no loss at the end of the six powerplay overs.

The end of field restrictions didn’t bring any relief to England bowlers as Mandhana continued to go aerial with great effect and brought up her half-century in 25 balls. The 21-year-old earned the distinction of scoring the fastest fifty by an Indian in women’s T20.

She was eventually dismissed when she holed out to Beaumont off Sciver, ending her 129-run opening stand with Mithali in 12.5 overs.

Smriti’s departure saw England send down some economical overs besides claiming the wickets of Mithali Raj and Veda Krishnamurthy.

Pooja Vastrakar hit a 10-ball 22 towards the end to help India take 45 runs off the last three overs to reach their highest total in women’s T20Is. In the end, that wasn’t enough.

Brief Scores

India 198/4 in 20 overs (S Mandhana 76, M Raj 53, T Farrant 2/32); England 199/3 in 18.4 overs (D Wyatt 124, T Beaumont 35, D Sharma 2/36). England won by seven wickets.