England faced a challenging five-wicket loss in the final game of their Twenty20 series against India, according to their captain Heather Knight. Despite winning the first two matches, England was unable to secure a series sweep as India successfully chased down their score of 126 with six balls remaining at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

After losing the last match, Knight spoke to TNT Sports and said, “It was a valuable learning experience. We made the decision to give some of our players a break and give our younger players a chance to play, which I thought was excellent. The crowd was once again very loud and maintaining composure will be a beneficial lesson for our younger players.”

India performed well in bowling, making it challenging for us. We were able to reach a lower-than-ideal score in the game, but we also had strong plays with the ball.

In general, I am very satisfied with the series. I believe we have gained a lot of knowledge, played under varying circumstances, and successfully adjusted to them.

Nat Sciver-Brunt, who sat out the last match, was awarded the title of player of the series for her performance of 93 runs and a few wickets in the first two games.

Smriti Mandhana (48) and Jemimah Rodrigues (29) laid the foundations of India’s reply as England kept chipping away at the home side’s batting to stay in the contest.

Freya Kemp and Sophie Ecclestone both took two wickets, with Ecclestone being more costly than usual with her two for 43.

Ecclestone bowled Richa Ghosh to leave India needing 11 runs from as many balls to delight the home crowd. England might have felt they had a chance at that stage, but Amanjot Kaur struck two boundaries through the covers to see India home.

Heather Knight and Amy Jones revived the England batting after a shaky start at 26 for three. Knight scored 52 runs off 42 balls, including three fours and three sixes, while Jones added 21 runs in their fourth-wicket partnership of 41.

Tailender Charlie Dean scored 16 not out and had a record-breaking partnership of 50 runs with Knight, while opener Sophia Dunkley also reached double figures with 11 runs.

The Knight was dismissed on the second-to-last ball of the innings, caught out at long-on. This made him the ninth player to be eliminated. England lost their final wicket on the last ball, giving India a confidence boost before their upcoming Test match on Thursday.

Source: theguardian.com