Nathan Ellis returned career-best figures of 4 for 33 from nine overs as Australia toppled Pakistan by 41 runs in the second ODI at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore to keep the three-match series alive. What must have made this win sweeter for the visitors was that it came on a rank-turner by an under-strength team.

Australia fared much better on the spin-conducive pitch of Lahore than they had done in Rawalpindi, as they lasted the entire 50 overs and set Pakistan 232. The target was always going to challenge the hosts as this surface had much more turn and variable bounce in it than the one for the first ODI.

Ellis and Matt Kuhnemann caused Pakistan’s early woes by removing both openers in the first two overs of the chase and soon Australia had scythed through half of the line-up inside 12 overs at the expense of only 58 runs. Shadab Khan top-scored with a gutsy 71 off 104 balls, and at one stage seemed a chance to pull of a miraculous win, but he continued to run out of partners from the other end. He was the last man to be dismissed off a stumping as Pakistan were bowled out for 190 in 44 overs.

Two batters under pressure, a lofty run-chase and much-needed half-centuries for Alice Capsey and Heather Knight led England to a confidence-boosting victory against India in the third and final T20I at Taunton.

In the last competitive outing for either side before the T20 World Cup starts in Birmingham on June 12, Capsey and Knight – both in need of a big score – lifted their side to a six-wicket victory with England’s joint second-highest successful run-chase in T20Is.

Capsey reached 82 off 43 before she fell ramping Arundhati Reddy to short third in the 18th over, while Knight remained unbeaten on 70 off 42, striking Deepti Sharma through backward square for four to bring up the winning runs in timely style. From 38 for 3, Capsey and Knight constructed a 137-run stand for the fourth wicket off 76 balls to secure a 2-1 series win.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten half-century underpinned India’s innings, which also had contributions from Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues. She came in with her side struggling at 60 for 3 in the seventh over and helped raise them to 180 for 5 but it wasn’t enough.

Kranti Gaud returned to India’s starting XI after making way for offspinner Shreyanka Patil in Bristol and, after conceding two boundaries in three balls of her first over, responded supremely by bowling Danni Wyatt-Hodge with the perfect-length delivery which nipped off the seam across the batter and left her flummoxed. Fellow opener Sophia Dunkley’s woes deepened when she picked out Rodrigues at deep midwicket off Reddy for 16. That mean’s Dunkley’s highest score for the international season so far remains 26 in the second T20I against New Zealand.

Gaud conceded just four runs off her second over and removed Amy Jones with the first ball of her third to a mistimed pull straight to midwicket. Gaud then came in for some punishment, however, as Capsey unleashed with a monstrous six over extra cover, followed by fours down the ground and through midwicket as the over went for 15 in all.

It seemed harsh to question Capsey’s place in the XI given her seizing the opportunity to open with an unbeaten 74 against New Zealand in Derby but, since then her best score had been 28 dropping down to the middle order with the return of regular opener Wyatt-Hodge, albeit against sterner opposition in India. But with Jones favoured at No. 3 in this series and England still pinning their hopes on Nat Sciver-Brunt returning from injury for the T20 World Cup, it was becoming a matter of where Capsey could fit in. That said, Dunkley continues to struggle and, until tonight, Knight was too.

Capsey played like someone with all of that – or none of it – on her mind as she displayed exquisite timing, placement and power to reach fifty off just 27 balls. Pushing Reddy’s full ball towards mid-on, Capsey dipped her head in satisfaction as she ran a single and clenched her jaw in raising her bat for an understated celebration, then set about the rest of the task at hand. She smashed 4, 6, 6 off N Shree Charani in the 16th over immediately after Knight had raised her half-century off 31 balls to hit form at the right time. It was a satisfying knock for Knight, who had not passed 25 in five previous T20I innings this summer.

Openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana departed early but India were 57 for 2 at the end of the powerplay and building nicely through Bhatia and Rodrigues, the architects of a 38-run victory at Chelmsford. Bhatia had struck three fours off one Charlie Dean over, tucked through fine leg, smashed over wide long-on and driven down the ground. Then Sophie Ecclestone produced a moment of magic in the field. Bhatia drove a Dani Gibson delivery towards the covers, where Ecclestone swooped, gathered and threw in one fluid motion to scatter the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Bhatia well short of her ground in what felt like a major breakthrough.

It was a different story on the final ball of the innings, Ecclestone’s ecstasy turning to embarrassment when Richa Ghosh hit the ball straight back to her, she gathered on the bounce, turned and threw underarm at the stumps right in front of her and missed. The batters ran two, Ecclestone dropped to her haunches with her head in her hands and only looked up as the players were walking off the field, probably wishing it would swallow her until a few team-mates gathered round to offer comforting slaps on the back.

In an eventful 19th over, Harmanpreet would have been run out on 48, seeking a second run but sent back by Deepti, but wicketkeeper Amy Jones fumbled the throw. Deepti bisected two leg-side fielders expertly for her third four before she was beaten on the top edge, then sent Bell’s next ball straight up in the air to mid-on. Her dismissal stemmed the flow of runs. With an over to go, Harmanpreet was stranded on 49, but she brought up her fifty off 38 balls carving a full one from Ecclestone through point for four, her seventh boundary of the innings. It was Harmanpreet’s 17th half-century in T20Is but, remarkably, her first against England.

Scores:
England Women 184 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Sophia Dunkley 16, Alice Capsey 82, Heather  Knight 70*; Arundhati Reddy 2-31, Kranti Gaud 2-40) beat India Women 180 for 5 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 11, Harmanpreet Kaur 56*, Yastika Bhatia 32, Deepti Sharna 32, Jemimah Rodrigues 29; Lauren Bell 2-36, Linsey Smith 1-40, Charlie Dean 1-33)  by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

Where once ODI bilaterals could have been fairly mocked for their lack of relevance, they are played less and less, and this series has a bit of heat to it. Qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup is on the line, and both these sides know what it’s like to be left out of a major international tournament (both were missing from the last Champions Trophy, and West Indies had also not played the 2023 World Cup).

On March 31, 2027, the eight highest-ranking teams – aside from hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe – will qualify automatically for the World Cup, and teams slightly lower will have to fight their way in through a qualifier. Currently Sri Lanka are ranked sixth in ODIs, while West Indies are ninth. Both teams could do with a rankings boost.

Sri Lanka are in slightly better shape coming into this series. They have, at the very least, played ODIs this year, losing 2-1 at home to England. West Indies have lost four of their last five ODIs, and have not played the format for six months. Both teams have more or less their regular ODI troops to pick from, however. Sri Lanka’s seam stocks are in especially good health at present.