Southampton, Jul 16 (PTI) Young seamer Kranti Goud impressed with two wickets upfront before Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten 92-ball 83 lifted England to a respectable 258 for six against India in the first Women’s ODI here on Wednesday.
Besides Goud (2/55 in 9 overs), off-spinner Sneh Rana (2/31 in 10 overs) too picked up two wickets during a fine display after England opted to bat.
Alice Davidson Richards contributed 53 in 73 balls during a 106-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Dunkley, which formed the nucleus of the England innings after they lost four wickets for 97 runs.
Dunkley struck nine fours during her stay in the middle.
Asked to bowl first, India enjoyed early success as Goud dismissed Amy Jones with a stunning delivery for her first international wicket in her second WODI.
It was an eventful over by the 21-year-old as she bowled a hat-trick of wides before making amends with one that nipped back sharply before hitting the top of the middle stump.
The wobble seam kept the batter guessing as she leaned forward to defend, only to realise that the ball has crashed through the gate, and a delighted Goud punched the air at The Rose Bowl.
Just as England were looking to recover from the early blow, Goud struck for the second time, a lovely inswinger trapping opener Tammy Beaumont in front of the wicket. The on-field umpire was not convinced, but an Indian review clearly showed the ball hitting the top of middle stump.
Coming off a fine ODI series against the West Indies, Beaumont went too far across the stumps, and the ball hit the pad first.
At 20 for two in the fourth over, England needed a partnership and they got it through the in-form Emma Lamb and skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt, the duo adding 71 runs to steady the ship.
However, England lost both the set batters in the space of two overs with off-spinner Sneh Rana inflicting the damage on the home side by sending back Lamb (39 off 50 balls) and Sciver-Brunt (41 off 52 balls).
Lamb, who came into the game after scoring three straight fifties in the Vitality Blast, struck four boundaries, while Sciver-Brunt found the fence five times.
The pressure got to Lamb as she hit one straight to mid-off after England failed to a get a boundary for five overs. As for Sciver-Brunt, she drove Rana uppishly for Jemimah Rodrigues to pull off an excellent catch.
Dunkley and Alice then came to the home team’s rescue. PTI AH AH ATK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.