Smriti Mandhana‘s maiden T20I hundred and Shree Charani’s four-fer on T20I debut saw India decimate England by 97 runs to take 1-0 lead in the five-match series, at Trent Bridge on Saturday (June 28).

Leading from the front, Mandhana became India’s second female centurion in the format, propelling the side to a mammoth 210 from their allotted overs, ably aided by Harleen Deol’s 43 on T20I comeback and England’s sloppiness in the field. Indian spinners took charge in the second half, claiming eight of the 10 wickets. Despite Nat Sciver-Brunt’s fighting half-century, England folded for 113 in the 15th over with Charani registering 4 for 12 from her 3.5 overs.

After India decided to rest Harmanpreet Kaur following a head injury in the warm-up game earlier this week, Mandhana played a captain’s knock to power India’s 210. With Shafali Verma tentative on comeback, the onus was on the senior partner to lead the way and Mandhana took total charge, playing all around the ground. In windy Nottingham, Mandhana used the conditions to her advantage, as well as the match-ups – an area where new skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt erred early on. She picked three boundaries off the new-ball bowlers before laying into the left-arm spinner Linsey Smith who bowled ahead of the experienced Sophie Ecclestone.

When the veteran did come into the attack after PowerPlay, Mandhana welcomed the spinner with a slog-sweep over midwicket straight up and then another two balls later. Mandhana’s relentless attack ensured India scored at more than nine an over for the first half, and then she switched gears in the middle overs after her 31st T20I half-century that came off 27 balls. Her 112 made Mandhana the first Indian, and fifth woman overall, to register a hundred in all three formats internationally. It’s also India Women’s highest individual score in the format, surpassing Harmanpreet’s 103 in the 2018 World Cup against New Zealand.

Playing her first T20I in nearly two years, Deol earned a recall in Harmanpreet’s absence. Also promoted to no. 3 on the back of her red-hot ODI form, Deol vindicated the management’s call with a 23-ball 43 laced with seven boundaries. While Verma’s wicket could have slowed India down, Deol came in with intent and, for the better part of her stay in the 94-ball partnership with the stand-in skipper, batted at a strike-rate of 200 or more. Typically a slow starter early on, Deol showed improvement on that front when she took on the returning Linsey Smith for 13 of the 14-run over – three boundaries included – to keep the momentum going as she raced to an eight-ball 20 in no time.

That allowed Mandhana to keep her foot firmly on the gas, and she raised India’s hundred just after the halfway mark with a trademark pull over the ropes. The duo took only four overs to raise a fifty stand. After being reprieved on 25, Deol went on to make a valuable 43 before holing out to deep midwicket to give Lauren Bell the first of her three wickets.

Mandhana forced to stay off strike for a better part of the death overs, after getting to the hundred, is where India erred at the backend of their innings. Bell struck twice more in the space of three deliveries in the 18th over to remove quick-scoring Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues early, and finish with highly impressive figures of 3 for 27 given the high-scoring nature of the game. This was followed by an excellent penultimate over from Arlott for only five runs that made Mandhana desperate to hit every ball left. While the India captain did step down to loft Sophie Ecclestone for a four downtown first-ball, the spinner had instant revenge as Mandhana mistimed the next. She walked off to a standing ovation at Trent Bridge for a brilliant 112,and India ended with 210 when 225+ seemed on the cards not so long ago. Nevertheless, this is India’s second highest T20I total and the best effort against England.

With oly medium pacers at her disposal in the fast-bowling department, India threw the new ball to Amanjot Kaur who opened with a short and wide delivery to allow Sophia Dunkely to kick off the chase with a four. However, the English opener edged another similar delivery behind to close the mixed-bag of the first over. Deepti Sharma, at the other end, struck right away to hand Danni Wyatt-Hodge a three-ball duck. While Sciver-Brunt tried to go after the bowlers, including Deepti when she returned for the final PowerPlay over, the Indian cleaned up Tammy Beaumont to leave England reeling at 58/3 at the end of the first-six overs.

Indian spinners kept mounting the pressure on England with Radha Yadav striking twice in her first couple of overs to have Amy Jones and Arlott walking back, and Charani getting rid of the dangerous Alice Capsey for her maiden wicket. Amidst all the doom and gloom, it was business as usual for the England captain who waged a lone battle. Her 31-ball fifty came in the 12th over but Sciver-Brunt was quickly running out of partners. Ecclestone went for an ill-advised slog-sweep against the frugal Charani, and ended up picking Rodrigues near the ropes with perfection. The writing was truly on the wall for the hosts when the debutant had Sciver-Brunt edging behind that was given out only on review. Three balls later, Bell sent another one Rodrigues’ way as England collapsed to 113 all out of which the skipper scored 66 alone.

Brief scores:
India Women  210/5 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 20, Smriti Mandhana 112, Harleen Deol 43, Richa Gosh 12; Lauren Bell 3-27, Em Arlott 1-38, Sophie Ecclestone 1-43) beat England Women  113 all out in 14.5 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 66, Tammy Beaumont 10, Em Arlott 12; Amanjot Kaur 1-22,  Shree Charani 4-12, Deepti Sharma 2-32, Arundahti Reddy 1-18, Radha Yadav 2-15) by 97 runs.