Smriti Mandhana smashed a sparkling 61 as India Women booked their place in the finals of the Commonwealth Games by defeating England women by four runs in the semifinal at Edgbaston on Saturday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, openers Smriti and Shafali Verma got India off to a quickfire start. The duo added 76 runs for the opening stand before the latter was caught at mid off by Brunt off Kemp.
Left hander Mandhana fell soon after scooping a catch to Wong at short fine leg for a 32 ball 61. Her knock comprised off 8 fours and 3 sixes.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur along with Jemimah Rodrigues featured in a 29 run stand for the third wicket before the former fell to fantastic catch by Bouchier off Freya Kemp for 20.
Deepti Sharma (20) then combined with Jemimah put on 53 runs for the fourth wicket before the former perished to Brunt.
In the end India posted a competitive score of 164/5 in their allotted 20 overs.
Chasing 165, Sophia Dunkley and Danielle Wyatt got England Women off to a brisk start. The pair added 28 runs for the opening wicket before Deepti Sharma broke the stand by dismissing Dunkley leg before wicket for 19.
Alice Capsey looked good during her short stay, but was run out by a brilliant throw from Sneh Rana.
Rana then claimed the prize scalp of the dangerous Wyatt bowled, while trying to scoop it to fine leg for a 27 ball-35.
Nat Sciver along with Amy Jones anchored the innings with a fourth wicket stand of 54 runs before the latter was run for 31.
With 27 runs needed off the final two overs, Nat Sciver kept the hosts in hunt by smashing Pooja Vastrakar for a maximum and stealing 4 leg byes in the penultimate over. However the England skipper was run out off the very next ball, while trying to attempt an second run and was well short of the crease.
Sneh Rana however held her nerves and defended 14 runs in the final over to give India a thrilling 4 run win