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Despite suffering a T20I series defeat against England, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was very proud of her team for putting up a fierce performance to fightback against visitors till the end of the match.
Indian bowlers staged a praiseworthy fightback while defending a low total of 81 runs, however, England sealed the three-match T20I series by beating Women in Blue by four wickets in the second T20I at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. Indian batters just could not battle the English bowlers, with only Jemimah (30) and Smriti Mandhana (10) getting to double figures. England skittled out India for just 80 runs in 16.2 overs. In the defence of the target, Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma showed character, but that just was not enough. "Another 30-40 runs could have made a huge difference. Proud of my team, we fought till the last run which is good to see. We always want to play with a positive approach, but unfortunately, some of us didn't read the ball well and they also bowled really well and didn't allow us to score freely," Harmanpreet said during a post-match presentation. The India captains said that they wanted to post 120 runs on board after losing some wickets early in the game and showered praise on bowlers for putting up a fight back against England batters. "After losing early wickets, we were thinking 120, but couldn't do it. But still, our bowlers were ready to take up the challenge and bowled the way we wanted," Harmanpreet said. India will want to win against England in the third and last T20I of the series on Sunday to avoid the series sweep. Coming to the match, England reached the 50-run mark in 6.2 overs. Their 42-run stand came to an when Pooja Vastrakar cleaned up Sciver for 16. England was 61/3 in 7.5 overs. India staged a small fightback, with spinner Saika Ishaque picking up Capsey for 25. Deepti Sharma also removed Amy Jones (5) and Freya Kemp (0), England was 73/6 in 10.3 overs. However, skipper Heather Knight (7*) and Sophie Ecclestone (9*) guided the team to a four-wicket win. Renuka (2/26) and Deepti (2/4) took two wickets for India while Saika and Pooja got one each. India lost the series 2-0. Earlier, England bowlers wreaked havoc on Indian batters to bundle out hosts for 80 in 16.2 overs in the third T20I of three-match series. (ANI)
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