Half-centuries to Jemimah Rodrigues and a resurgent Yastika Bhatia, combined with three wickets on international debut for Nandanai Sharma, led a somewhat experimental India side to a 38-run victory in the opening game of their three-match T20I series.

After a troubled start at Chelmsford in which Lauren Bell took two wickets in the first over to leave the tourists 7 for 2, Yastika and Rodrigues shared a century stand for the third wicket as captain Harmanpreet Kaur was rested. Playing her first T20I in two years, Yastika struck 54 off 40 balls – her maiden T20I fifty – and Rodrigues faced as many deliveries for her typically poised 69. England overcame a rash of fielding errors after winning the toss to contain the target after the pair departed, with Deepti Sharma’s 13-ball cameo worth 22 the only other double-figure score.

Amy Jones scored fifty from the unfamiliar position of No. 3, dominating a 64-run partnership with Heather Knight, who overtook head coach Charlotte Edwards to become England Women’s most-capped player in history across all formats with 310 caps in all. But Jones’s 48-ball 67 couldn’t save her side in the face of Nandani’s 3 for 34 which gave India an added boost with the T20 World Cup just over two weeks away.

For a third match in a row, Bell struck in the first over, this time with the big wickets of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Smriti, standing in as captain for Harmanpreet, spooned the first ball – a half-volley outside off stump – straight to cover, where Charlie Dean gleefully accepted the offering. Then, off the last ball, Shafali skied one towards mid-on, where Alice Capsey ran in to take a sharp, diving catch.

Bell had taken wickets in the first over against New Zealand twice – with the first ball in the opening T20I in Derby and the last ball in the second match at Canterbury – before she was rested for the third match at Hove. Earlier, she had snared three lbw dismissals within her first four overs of the third ODI against the White Ferns in Cardiff.

Against India, however, some of her work came undone when the second over, bowled by Issy Wong, went for 27 runs through a combination of wides and Yastika making a fast start of own.

Making her first T20I appearance since April 2024 and after undergoing knee surgery last year, Yastika looked like she’d never been away. From her four boundaries off Wong’s wayward first over to a glorious six muscled over wide long-on off Sophie Ecclestone, she settled in beautifully, raising her fifty off 31 balls and simultaneously taking India past 100 at the end of the 10th over.

She and Rodrigues brought up their 100-partnership off 58 deliveries in the face of some sloppy England fielding but chiefly through exquisite footwork and timing. Rodrigues brought up her half-century with a six down the ground of debutant Tilly Corteen-Coleman and their union yielded 126 runs in all off just 76 balls. It took a combination of a good throw from the 18-year-old Corteen-Coleman and questionable decision-making to break it. As Charlie Dean struck Yastika on the pad and the ball trickled to short third, she and Rodrigues chanced a single and Corteen-Coleman fired the ball back to the bowler, who broke the stumps with Yastika well short of her ground. Dean closed the over with a sharp return catch to remove Rodrigues and give England hope of containing the target.

Wong handed Corteen-Coleman her maiden T20I wicket with a superb over-the-shoulder catch running from backward point to collect a reverse-sweep from Richa Ghosh, who departed for just 4. Wong took the ball in the next over and bowled Bharti Fulmali for 6 with a slower ball that beat an attempted slog and deflected off the pads onto the stumps. India were 148 for 6 in the 17th over but a spirited 39-run stand between Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy raised the target before Bell returned to remove Deepti, pulling a short ball straight to midwicket.

England promoted Jones as Maia Bouchier, who is not part of England’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, made way with Nat Sciver-Brunt still injured and regular opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge poised to return from maternity leave from the second match of this series onwards. The hosts persisted with their opening experiment of Alice Capsey and Sophia Dunkley – Wyatt-Hodge’s usual companion at the top of the order – and while it had paid off with Capsey’s fifty in the first T20I against New Zealand, both fell cheaply on Thursday as the hosts stumbled to 37 for 2.

Jones had enjoyed a fruitful stint as an ODI opener against West Indies last summer but she hadn’t batted at No. 3 in a T20I since the rain-hit home match against the same opponents in 2020. She had limited opportunities with the bat in the New Zealand series, batting just once in the T20s for 1 not out, but she relished her chance against India, picking the gaps expertly on her way to nine boundaries.

Jones’s dismissal, slog-sweeping Nandani to deep midwicket sparked a mini collapse from which England would never recover. Nandani, the 24-year-old quick, was on a hat-trick after Dani Gibson holed out next ball, Shafali again doing the work in the outfield, as she had done to end Jones’s innings. And while Dean negotiated the next delivery, Nandani had her third wicket two balls later, a slower one that deceived Wong and clattered into off stump.

Brief scores:
India Women 188 for 7 (Yastika Bhatia 54, Jemimah Rodrigues 69, Deepti Sharma 22; Lauren Bell 3-34, Issy Wong 1-41, Tilley Corteen Coleman 1-19, Charlie Dean 1-26) beat England Women 150 for 8 in 20 overs  (Sophia Dunkley 16, Amy Jones 67, Heather Knight 21, Charlie Dean 11*, Sophie Ecclestone13; Kranti Gaud  2-24, Nandani Sharma 3-34, Shree Charani 1-25, Deepti Sharma 1-42) by 38 runs

[Cricinfo]