March 16: Off-spinner Charlie Dean delivered career-best figures of four for 23 to bundle India out for 134, as seven batters failed to get past single figures.
Nat Sciver’s 45 from 46 balls helped rescue England from four for two in reply as the defending champions chased down the modest total with 18.4 overs to spare.
Though score was very low, India was hopeful for win, after Meghna Singh and Jhulan Goswami struck in quick succession in the first three overs. Danni Wyatt pushed hard but found Sneh Rana diving full-length to her right at slip while Tammy Beaumont was trapped lbw in pad first on forward defence, giving Goswami her 250th wicket in ODIs.
Knight and her deputy Nat Sciver joined forces to get England’s innings back on track. The 65-run partnership for the third wicket ended as Sciver was foxed by a short ball from Pooja Vastrakar and leading edge on pull flew to mid-on.
Further, Knight brought her 23rd ODI fifty in 66 balls. She was ably supported by Sophia Dunkley, who fetched three boundaries in her first 14 balls. Dunkley’s cameo ended as she nicked behind to ‘keeper Richa Ghosh off Meghna for a low, dipping catch.
Sophie Ecclestone finished off the chase with a pulled four through deep mid-wicket off Meghna, giving England their first two points in the tournament.
Earlier, pushed into batting first, India never got going as Anya Shrubsole, followed by Dean and a tight fielding display by the defending champions never let them get any breathing space.
Smriti Mandhana lost her opening partner Yastika Bhatia four overs in as Anya Shrubsole earned her 100th ODI wicket clean-bowling Bhatia for eight off 11.
Sophia Dunkley showed it was finally to be a good day in the field for England as she hit the stumps with a direct hit, but Mithali Raj was safely home before taking a low catch three balls later to dismiss Raj for one.
Shrubsole went 11 balls without conceding a run, but India’s patience did not pay off as Deepti Sharma went for a 10-ball duck as England got a run out, Kate Cross finding the stumps to reduce India to 28 for three.
Spin was brought into the attack in the 14th over as Sophie Ecclestone ran in for the first time since moving top of the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s Rankings for ODI Bowlers.
But it was her spin twin Dean who took a wicket first, dismissing Harmanpreet Kaur for 14 from 26 balls as she nicked behind to wicketkeeper Amy Jones before Sneh Rana fell exactly the same way two balls later to give Dean a double wicket maiden.
Mandhana brought up the first boundary for eight overs as she sent Ecclestone to mid-off before the Spinner got revenge three balls later dismissing her LBW.
Despite calling for the review, there was no reprieve for Mandhana as India slipped to 71 for six.
Dean thought she had her third as Pooja Vastrakar was given out leg before but the review showed the impact was outside the line. It did not matter as Dean dismissed her two balls later in the same way, a review not able to save Vastrakar this time.
India went into survival mode and the run-rate slowed as Dean and Ecclestone bowled eight overs in a row each before Kate Cross came on and was hit for the first six of the game, Jhulan Goswami striking the ball 77 metres down the ground.
Nat Sciver provided the next wicket, another run out as the highest partnership between Goswami and Richa Ghosh (33) was broken before Goswami went in the same Cross over, sending a catch straight to Danni Wyatt at backward point.
India’s innings then came to an end as Meghna Singh became Dean’s fourth victim to bring up her best ODI figures of four for 23 and reduce India to 134 all out.
Scores in brief
England beat India at Bay Oval, Tauranga by four wickets
India 134 all out in 36.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 35, Richa Ghosh 33; Charlie Dean 4/23, Anya Shrubsole 2/20)
England 136/6 in 31.2 overs (Heather Knight 53 not out, Nat Sciver 45; Meghna Singh 3/26)
Player of the Match: Charlie Dean (England)
