8 years ago, here at the Essex County Ground in Chelmsford in the 1st T20 of the 2013 Women’s Ashes, Sarah Taylor made her highest ever international T20 score – hitting 77 off 58 balls as England set Australia 146, going on to win the match by 15 runs. Taylor’s supporting act that evening was Danni “Waggy” Wyatt, who made 28 off 36 balls.

Today it was Wyatt herself topping the bill, walking off with the Player of the Match champagne for 89* off 56 balls. It is an indication of how much the game has changed that Wyatt faced two fewer balls than Taylor had faced in 2013, but scored 12 more runs. Moreover, this was “only” Wyatt’s 3rd best international T20 score, having previously made 100s against both India and Australia.

Prior to this evening, some were starting to question Wyatt’s place in the England side. Having not played in the Test, she was not recalled for the ODIs either, only coming back into the team for the T20s, scoring 31 and 3 in the first two games.

Meanwhile Emma Lamb has been owning it in domestic cricket, opening the batting for the Thunder, with a string of strong scores including two 100s and a 50.

True, Wyatt also posted some decent numbers in domestic cricket this year, including 3 consecutive half-centuries in the RHF, but she hadn’t looked quite herself this season… until today.

This was Danni Wyatt back at her absolute best – the glorious slog-sweeps and effortless inside-outs over the covers. When she’s not playing at the top of her game, those shots tend to end up in the hands of a fielder on the ring; but today they soared to the boundary. And there would have been more to come – surely a third international T20 hundred – if she’d been able to bat for the full 20 overs.

Wyatt’s T20 place now is surely secure for the immediate future – probably up until at least the Commonwealth Games next summer. England Captain Heather Knight has made no secret of the fact that she is 100% focussed on the big tournaments coming up in 2022 – the teams she is selecting this year are the ones she thinks will play in the World Cup in New Zealand and in the CWG in Birmingham.

The selection of Wyatt for this series was a clear indication that she remained part of the plans for the Commonwealths; but there was perhaps a small question mark by her name.

There isn’t any more.

India kept the multi-format series alive (ish – they can’t win it, but they can still stop England from doing so) with a dramatic win under increasingly gloomy skies at Hove.

Those darkening skies doubtless reflected Heather Knight’s mood, after she was run out in what she evidently considered controversial circumstances by her once (at Western Storm) and future (at London Spirit) team-mate Deepti Sharma. Deepti clearly did impede Knight as she ran her out, but it wasn’t obviously deliberate, so it was down to Harmanpreet to withdraw the appeal, which she declined to do, leaving Knight to walk back to the dugout shaking her head in disbelief.

Harmanpreet was of course well within her rights under the laws; but for what it’s worth, as someone who has been watching Heather Knight captain cricket teams for 10 years, I think she probably would have withdrawn the appeal if she’d been in Harman’s boots. In a high profile game like this, with the series on the line, though… who knows for sure?

It certainly turned what had been looking like another England promenade into a proper game of cricket. At the start of that 14th over from Deepti, England needed just over 6-an-over, having been motoring along at 8. Tammy Beaumont had played really well again – making a run-a-ball half century – her 7th in an England shirt this year. She was a little unlucky to be given out LBW on “umpire’s call” – she was so far down the pitch that I don’t think the umpire would have “called” initially if DRS hadn’t been available; but, again, them’s the rules and England have to live with them.

With the Knight run out the next ball, England went from 2-down to 4-down in the blink of an eye, and although they kept up with the run-rate, wickets continued to fall, testing the policy of eschewing a 7th batter to give themselves more bowling options, ultimately to destruction. Ecclestone, Brunt, Villiers and Glenn can all bat – but when you need 7-8 an over, with a roaring crowd of Indian fans in the stands, and Poonam bowling her loopy turning deliveries a foot outside off stump, it’s suddenly not quite so easy, as one by one they discovered.

Overall, playing 5 bowlers probably is the right call, because of the flexibility it offers; and one extra batter probably wouldn’t have saved England’s bacon today anyway, but I do think England could have used their bowling options better. Katherine Brunt was given a second over in the powerplay, despite the first having gone for 11, and it went for 21, which in the context of a game which went pretty close to the wire, is not ideal!

(I guess the theory is that if you offer Shafali enough short balls, she’ll eventually sky one to a fielder… as she did! But in a T20 game it’s a dangerous tactic, because if that “eventually” takes 38 balls, she’s going to score a lot of runs in that time… as she did!)

All this should take nothing away from the Indians though – they closed out the game, against the odds, with Sneh Rana holding her nerve in the final over, in a situation where England, needing 14, could still have won. And it sets things up nicely for a finale at Chelmsford on Wednesday, in which the pressure will actually be more on England for once.

It will be interesting to see how they respond.

This week we’re at sunny Hove! We discuss:

• Ellyse Perry’s absence from The Hundred – does it matter?
• Should Emma Lamb be playing for England?
• The 2nd T20 v India at Hove – what could & should England do differently?

A DLS result always feels like a bit of an anti-climax – the margin of victory for ever qualified as:

England win by 18 runs… (brackets) DLS.

But England should be pretty happy with their night’s work in Northampton.

The night took us back to England’s previous visit to this ground, for two matches versus the West Indies in June 2019 – in one of those games, England struck 180-6; the other was rained off without a ball being bowled.

Tonight was England’s highest T20 score batting first at home since that match against the Windies in 2019. Then, it was Danni Wyatt in the runs; tonight it was Nat Sciver’s turn to dominate, hitting 55 off 27 balls – the fourth time she has completed an international T20 innings of 20 or more with a Strike Rate over 200. Everyone will have their own highlights, but a back-foot pull off Poonam in the 9th over was the shot of the day for me – she’d only just come in, but it was a shot of effortless confidence, as if she’d been at the crease all day.

Later on she went full metal jacket on Arundhati Reddy, nearly taking her head off with the first of three consecutive 4s back past the luckless bowler, whose main crime seemed to be turning up to a gun-fight armed with only a cricket ball.

Her rampage was only ended by a brilliant catch from Harmanpreet, who may be averaging just 8 runs in the cross-format series so far, but still has a flare for the champagne moment… or would have done if Harleen Deol hadn’t then taken one of the greatest catches off all time to do for Amy Jones.

There were some doubts on social media as to the legality of Harleen’s catch, but this ruling is essentially as official as it gets:

(For those who don’t know Jonny, his official title is “Laws of Cricket Advisor” at the MCC, but we prefer to think of him as basically Judge Dredd – when it comes to cricket… HE IS THE LAW!)

Returning briefly to Amy Jones, this was the best we’ve seen her play for England for a while – she is such a confidence player, and there were a few nervous moments early on today, but once she got in she made it count with some glorious stroke-play, including two sixes over long on that were little more than lofted drives off the bat, but timed so self-assuredly that they sailed over the rope… albeit one with a little help from Sneh Rana, who couldn’t hang on as it slipped through her upstretched hand.

England now have an unassailable lead in the multi-format series – India can’t win it now, though they could still earn a draw if they win the two remaining T20s in Hove and Chelmsford. They still have the players to do that – Smriti Mandhana always looks like a player and a half, and although Shafali had a bit of a “moment” today, she’s ever a danger too. Ironically, although they have won just one game in the series so far – the final ODI – in Shafali and Smriti, India have probably both the first two players you’d pick in a “Combined” XI; but they can’t carry 9 others alone. What we are seeing again and again at the moment is that England are a real “team” – whether it is Beaumont or Dunkley or Ecclestone or Jones… or Sciver today – someone will stand up more often than not, and ultimately that’s what gets you results in this game.

Danni Wyatt and Mady Villiers have been recalled to the England squad for the three T20s versus India, which begins on Friday evening at the The County Ground in Northampton.

Meanwhile Kate Cross and Lauren Winfield-Hill have been stood-down, and will be available to play for Thunder and Diamonds respectively in the Charlotte Edwards Cup this weekend.

The recalls of Wyatt and Villiers were both expected, after Heather Knight name-checked them in her press conference at the end of the ODI series when discussing possible changes for the T20s.

Wyatt will almost certainly open the batting in the 3-match series; while Villiers selection may depend on whether conditions look to favour a third spinner in the line-up, although her status as one of the world’s best outfielders may also help her case.

Full Squad

• Heather Knight (Western Storm, captain)
• Tammy Beaumont (Lightning)
• Katherine Brunt (Northern Diamonds)
• Freya Davies (South East Stars)
• Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars)
• Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder)
• Tash Farrant (South East Stars)
• Sarah Glenn (Central Sparks)
• Amy Jones (Central Sparks)
• Nat Sciver (Northern Diamonds)
• Anya Shrubsole (Western Storm)
• Mady Villiers (Sunrisers)
• Fran Wilson (Sunrisers)
• Danni Wyatt (Southern Vipers)

This week:

• We look back at the England v India ODI series & ahead to the T20s
• Were we all wrong about Mithali Raj?
• High-profile Australian withdrawals from The Hundred in spite of ECB’s offer of £10,000 bonuses
• Equal pay in The Hundred

India got a win on the board at last, to keep this multi-format series alive, and it was all thanks to… no, not Mithali’s 75 off 86 balls; but Sneh Rana’s 22 off 24.

Of course Mithali will get the plaudits on so many levels – passing 50 for the 3rd time in the series, this time with a significantly improved Strike Rate – 87, compared with  67 and 64 in the 1st and 2nd ODIs – and in doing so, overtaking Charlotte Edwards as the leading international run-scorer of all time. Mithali was (rightly) named Player of the Match.

But let’s rewind to the dismissal of Deepti Sharma in the 40th over. India still needed 56 in 7 overs, at a run-rate of exactly 8, having gone at just over 4 across the innings. It didn’t look hopeful. Mithali herself was still on a Strike Rate of 69 at that point – not enough to win the game from there.

But Rana came to the crease and immediately injected a an extra yard of urgency into proceedings. Rana played fearless cricket, attacking the best England had to throw at her, and Mithali responded too, upping her Strike Rate to match Rana. By the time Rana was dismissed, for 22 off 24 balls, the edge had turned in India’s favour, with 6 required off the final over.

The decision to throw Katherine Brunt the ball for that final over was an “interesting” one – she can be expensive at the death – for example conceding 18 runs in her final over in the 2nd ODI at Taunton – and only Ecclestone was “bowled out”, so other options were available. But the truth is probably that it was over by that point anyway. With the experience of Mithali and Jhulan at the crease, India were firm favourites to make 6 off the last 6 balls, and in fact they only needed 3 balls to get over the line.

It was all a far cry from the equivalent fixture here 5 years ago, when England thrashed Pakistan by 212 runs, thanks to centuries from Lauren Winfield-Hill and Tammy Beaumont. England hit 50 boundaries that day, with the rope pulled in as tight as was permitted under the regulations. Today, on a larger outfield, they managed just 20, and at one point went 16 overs without finding the rope. But they ran hard between the wickets, as they always do, and denied the Indians a single maiden. It got them to 219 – almost enough… but not quite, thanks to La Princesa Rana.

Way back in July 2014, I was at Wokingham Cricket Club to watch my beloved Berkshire in the county T20 Cup. The game against Middlesex ought to have been a shoe-in – Heather Knight hit 72 off 60 balls, supported by Corrine Hall (who would go on to captain Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL) who made 42 off 34, as Berkshire (chasing) made 142-3, which was a lot in them days!

But it wasn’t quite enough – Middlesex had earlier posted 145-6, thanks to a 16-year-old in her first full season of county cricket, who had hit 61 off 52 balls.

Her name: Sophia Dunkley.

Dunkley announced herself as a county cricketer that day; and over the following 6 seasons, she would go on to score over 1,600 runs for Middlesex; but some doubts persisted. She never really settled in the Kia Super League, spending a couple of seasons at Surrey Stars before moving to Lancashire Thunder; and although she made an England debut at the T20 World Cup in 2018, she didn’t get much opportunity to shine, and until this summer she remained on the periphery of England’s radar – one for the future perhaps, but not quite for now.

Until now.

In the space of a few weeks, Dunkley has officially been awarded a central contract (though in practice she’d effectively had one for several months), made her Test debut, scoring 74* in her only innings, and made her ODI debut, in which she did not bat.

Her performance in the Test was obviously impressive, but the moment she really became an “England player”… as opposed to a “player who’s played for England” occurred on the 4th ball of the 27th over of England’s innings in the 2nd ODI today.

England were actually in a wee bit of trouble – with Tammy Beaumont gone cheaply, they had collapsed slightly and were 125-4. Dunkley and Amy Jones – the last two recognised batters – had their work cut out, with almost 100 still required. Dunkley herself was on 10 off 11 balls, when Deepti Sharma gave her a bit of width outside off stump. Dunkley pounced, like a cat on a mouse, cutting confidently through extra cover for 4 runs.

This was the shot of a player who knew, at last, that she really belonged at this level.

A few overs later she splattered Shikha Pandey for 6 over long too… but that was just the confirmation.

Supported by Katherine Brunt, who more than made amends for what had looked like a potentially disastrous final over with the ball costing 18 runs, she closed out the game, finishing on 73* off 81 balls.

It created a real dilemma for Player of the Match too. Though Dunkley ultimately missed out to Kate Cross, who had earlier taken 5-34, for me Dunkley’s was the key performance – taking as much courage as skill, to stare down the barrel of an Indian attack who were looking in fearsome mood after their early breakthroughs. Jhulan in particular threw everything she had at her, but she battled through – proving herself against one of the greatest bowlers the game has ever known.

Dunks may have been handed her ODI cap last weekend, but she won it today – she’s an England player now… and will be for many years to come.

Tammy Beaumont’s brilliant run of form in ODIs continued, as England put India to the sword in Bristol. In four ODIs this year (three in New Zealand plus this one versus India) she has scored 318 runs at an average of… wait for it… 318! (She hasn’t been dismissed in an ODI since the 1st match in New Zealand.)

She was in imperious form today – she made 87 off 87 balls, and was only denied what looked like a certain century by Nat Sciver coming in and clattering 74 off 74 balls. As well as employing her trade-mark sweeps and ramps, Beaumont also rolled-back the years by bringing out the punched drive down the ground, that was her key productive shot earlier in her career.

There was some talk during the innings break about “low scoring games” but this never really looked like one of those. As Beaumont and Sciver showed, there were plenty of runs out there today – it was just that India didn’t really look like they wanted them until it was far too late.

As the Manhattans show, India can actually boast the most productive “phase” of the game, when they finally woke up in the last 10 overs and pulled 67 runs out of the hat – 6 more than England made in their initial powerplay. But the damage was already done. In the first 30 overs, they had scored at a Run Rate of just 3.0, and that’s simply not enough in any form of cricket these days.

Looking at the raw scorecard, you might think Mithali played the captain’s innings, but the truth is that she was actually the problem. Having come in during the 10th over, she reached the 30-over mark languishing on 23 off a whopping 63 balls – a Strike Rate of 37. Yes she caught up, to finish on 72 off 108 balls (a Strike Rate of 67) but she’d left her teammates (and herself) with far too much to do at the back-end of the innings. India’s final total of 201 was a good 50 under par; and though they probably still wouldn’t have won the game with 250, given Beaumont’s (and Sciver’s) form, they could at least have made England work for it!

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Mithali has been left behind by the modern era. While players like Tammy have adapted their games, she has stood still. She has two more ODIs in this series to turn things around, but if not… if India want a real shot at the World Cup in New Zealand next year, she needs to make way – she has been treading water for far too long; and the worry has to be that she is now no longer waving, but drowning.

This week:

• The 1st round of the Charlotte Edwards Cup
• Two young stars – Scrivens & Capsey
• Kari Carswell’s appointment by Middlesex/MCC
• No Wyatt in England’s ODI squad v India
• England’s XI – who makes the cut?