England thrash India to set up ODI series decider

Second one-day international, Lord's

India 143-8 (29 overs): Mandhana 42 (51); Ecclestone 3-27

England 116-2 (21 overs): Jones 46* (57), Beaumont 34 (35)

England won by eight wickets (DLS method); series level 1-1

Scorecard

England levelled the one-day international series by thrashing India in a rain-affected encounter at Lord's.

The match was initially reduced to 29 overs a side, with India trudging to a below-par 144-8 after being put into bat.

England were 102-1 in reply before another rain delay revised their target to 115 from 24 overs, which the hosts reached with 18 balls to spare, winning by eight wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

Amy Jones finished 46 not out, having added 54 for the first wicket with Tammy Beaumont and 48 for the second with captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.

After heavy rain in the morning delayed the start until 15:00 BST, India's batters struggled for fluency on a slow surface as they slipped to 72-5 inside 16 overs.

They failed to punish another inconsistent effort in the field from England, who dropped four catches and misjudged a couple more potential chances.

A crucial opportunity came in the fifth over when Lauren Bell dropped Smriti Mandhana in her follow-through on two, and the opener looked to be anchoring the innings despite wickets tumbling around her.

But the pressure told on Mandhana in the 21st over as she holed out to Charlie Dean off Linsey Smith for 42 from 51 balls, as only Deepti Sharma's unbeaten 30 helped give the innings a glimmer of credibility.

England's spinners bowled brilliantly in tandem throughout the innings, giving little away in miserly spells of 3-27 from Sophie Ecclestone, 2-28 for Smith and 1-31 for Dean.

The series decider - which will be England's final competitive ODI before the autumn's World Cup - takes place at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday.

Though the reduction in overs is not particularly helpful in terms of England's World Cup preparation, a comprehensive win over India is a big boost for Sciver-Brunt's side after they looked low on confidence during the first ODI at Southampton.

England's captain did not hesitate in bowling first after four hours of waiting for the rain to ease, and India's powerful batting line-up were unable to build any momentum in the face of the bowlers' much-improved discipline.

Em Arlott bowled Pratika Rawal with a sharp yorker in the second over, and Mandhana consolidated cautiously with Harleen Deol in a stand of 40 before the latter was brilliantly caught and bowled by a diving Ecclestone for 16.

The middle order then crumbled - Ecclestone had captain Harmanpreet Kaur bowled for seven, Dean held on to a tricky catch in her follow-through to remove Jemimah Rodrigues for three and Richa Ghosh was lbw to Ecclestone for two.

India only managed 12 fours throughout their innings, five of them from the bat of Mandhana, who looked constantly indecisive about whether to attack or focus on batting through the innings.

Sharma was India's last hope after Mandhana's departure but some bizarre running between the wickets with number 10 Kranti Goud saw her starved of the strike in the final overs and they limped to an unthreatening total.

There are still concerns surrounding England's fielding, even though none of the drops proved particularly costly. Dunkley missed chances with Deol on 11 and Harmanpreet on five, and Dean put down a straightforward chance when Ghosh chipped one back to her on nought.