Richa Ghosh’s lone-handed resistance was not enough to drag India Women over the line, as England Women edged to a tense five-run win in their final warm-up clash ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Cardiff on Wednesday.
Amy Jones’ 64-run knock and Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 45-ball 57, along with Danielle Gibson’s unbeaten 12-ball 30, guided England to 171/6 in 20 overs. On the other hand, Linsey Smith’s three-wicket haul, along with Charlotte Dean, Tilly Corteen-Coleman and Danielle Gibson’s two wickets each, restricted India to 166/10 in 19.5 overs despite Richa Ghosh’s valiant 36-ball 68.
Set 172 for victory, India appeared out of the contest until Ghosh ignited the chase with a furious counter-attack, hammering 68 off just 36 balls. Her exit
in the nerve-racking final over, though, left India all out for 166 with one delivery still remaining.
India’s reply to 172 began in disarray. The usually reliable opening pair of Smriti Mandhana (1) and Shafali Verma (13) could not settle, and India slipped to 18/2 in 2.4 overs.
The situation worsened when captain Harmanpreet Kaur (17) perished while attempting to up the tempo against England’s tight spin unit, leaving the chase looking brittle. Regular breakthroughs for England kept India on the back foot, and at 120/6 after 16 overs, the required target appeared far beyond reach.
Richa Ghosh, however, refused to capitulate and launched a fierce assault. The young wicketkeeper dramatically shifted the momentum, cracking nine fours and two sixes.
Even as India lost Shreyanka Patil and Kranti Gaud in the 18th over, Richa, alongside Shree Charani, kept the chase alive by plundering 21 runs off the penultimate over, trimming the requirement to 17 runs from the last 6 balls.
Ghosh immediately turned the screws on Linsey Smith, entrusted with the final over, by drilling the second ball to the fence and depositing the third over the boundary for six. With India now needing only 6 runs from the final 4 deliveries, the pendulum had swung decisively towards the chasing side.
The contest flipped again on the fourth ball of the over. Charging down the pitch in search of the winning blow, Ghosh was undone by Smith’s guile in flight and turn, giving stand-in keeper Alice Capsey the chance to complete the stumping. Ghosh’s magnificent 36-ball 68 came to a disappointing end.
India’s last batter, Renuka Singh Thakur, was bowled the very next delivery, closing the innings at 166 in 19.5 overs and confirming England’s five-run triumph.
Earlier, India had opted to field after winning the toss. England’s total was built around a superb 70-run stand between skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones.
Having lost wickets early, Sciver-Brunt (57 off 45 balls) and Jones (64 off 45 deliveries) methodically rebuilt with a composed and calculated partnership. A blistering late burst from Dani Gibson, who smashed an unbeaten 30 from just 12 balls, gave England crucial late impetus and lifted them to a formidable 171/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
For India, off-spinner Shreyanka Patil stood out with the ball, returning excellent figures of 2/29.
Despite coming up just short, India will draw encouragement from the lower-order resistance as they gear up for their T20 World Cup 2026 opener against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday at Edgbaston.
(With PTI Inputs)
