Smriti Mandhana in action during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup match between India and South Africa, at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Sunday June 21, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Alice Capsey’s fiery 82 and Heather Knight’s composed unbeaten 70 powered England to a series-clinching six-wicket victory over India in the third and final Women’s T20I in Taunton, U.K.

England won the series 2-1, also giving India some points to ponder ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup where Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. will face Pakistan in their tournament opener in Birmingham on June 14.

England did the immediate task of scaling down 181 by reaching 184 for four in 18.3 overs.

It was their second highest run-chase in the shortest format, built around a 137-run alliance from just 76 balls for the fourth wicket between Capsey and Knight.

But the beginning of that trip was full of turbulence as England lost openers Sophia Dunkley, Danny Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones within the Power Play for a mere 38 on the board.

Pacer Kranti Goud, who has been recalled to the side, did the early damage, jettisoning Hodge and Jones. Hodge’s dismissal came through a lovely delivery that nipped back to rattle her stumps.

But England found stability as Capsey, who struck nine fours and three sixes in her 43-ball innings, and Knight, whose 42-ball innings featured 10 fours, blunted Indian bowlers.

Both Capsey and Knight needed a confidence-boost after recent failures, and they did it on a must-win occasion.

They duo relied on exquisite timing and placement to ward off Indian pacers and spinners alike. Capsey raced to her fifty in 27 balls, while Knight was tad more sedate off 31 balls.

After reaching her fifty, Capsey raised the tempo of her knock, punishing left-arm spinner Sree Charani for 4, 6, 6.

Knight, on the other hand, was not hesitant to put on display her innovative powers through reverse sweeps or upper cuts.

Capsey fell to pacer Arundhati Reddy but by then England needed just six runs to win with plenty of balls in store.

Earlier, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur overcame a slow start to make a 40-ball 56 and received plenty of support from seasoned Deepti Sharma (32, 24b) as the tourists reached 180 for five.

The fifth wicket pair added a valuable 67 runs to bolster India’s innings.

Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana departed early but India still ended the Power Play at a strong 57 for two, courtesy the adventures of Yastika Bhatia (32, 18b) and Jemimah Rodrigues (29, 19b).

Harmanpreet found her touch after a rather slow start, and hammered Lauren Bell for a couple of fours to up the ante.

The skipper reached her fifty in the 20th over off 38 balls, her 17th T20I fifty but first against England.

It helped India reach a competitive total, but was not enough to stop the home side.

Scoreboard

India

Smriti Mandhana lbw b Dean 8 Shafali Verma c Dean b Smith 11 Yastika Bhatia run out (Ecclestone) 32 Jemimah Rodrigues b Bell 29 Harmanpreet Kaur not out 56 Deepti Sharma c Dean b Bell 32 Richa Ghosh not out 6

Extras: (W-6) 6

Total: ( For 5 wickets in 20 overs) 180

Fall of wickets: 1-19 2-36 3-60 4-100 5-167

Bowling: Lauren Bell 4-0-36-2, Linsey Smith 4-0-40-1, Charlie Dean 4-0-33-1, Sophie Ecclestone 4-0-33-0, Dani Gibson 4-0-38-0

England

Sophia Dunkley c Rodrigues b Reddy 16 Danni Wyatt-Hodge b Gaud 5 Amy Jones c D Sharma b Gaud 2 Alice Capsey c NSS Sharma b Reddy 82 Heather Knight not out 70 Freya Kemp not out 2

Extras: (LB-2 W-5) 7

Total: (For 4 wickets in 18.3 overs) 184

Fall of wickets: 1-14 2-24 3-38 4-175

Bowling: Arundhati Reddy 4-0-31-2, Kranti Gaud 4-0-40-2, Nandani Sharma 3-0-32-0, Shree Charani 3-0-37-0, Deepti Sharma 2.3-0-26-0, Shafali Verma 2-0-16-0

We were not able to build pressure with dot balls, can’t repeat the mistake in WC: Mandhana

Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana pinned the defeat to India’s failure to bowl enough dot balls, and hoped not to repeat the mistake in the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup.

“We definitely started extremely well with the ball, (reducing England to) 35 for 3. I wouldn’t really take anything away from the partnership they had. I think they played really good cricketing shots,” Mandhana said at the post-match press conference.

“In hindsight, we would have been able to build pressure with a few dot balls, but we were not able to do that. We will definitely look at this game in a way where we can do better and not repeat these mistakes in the World Cup coming ahead,” she added.

Despite the defeat, the left-handed opener took some positives from the series such as the return to form of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Harmanpreet struck a 40-ball 56 to take India to 180 for five. “She batted amazingly well. Harman, when she is at her best, is a delight to watch. She played all over the ground. It’s a really important innings under pressure, especially when we needed that knock to get us to 180+.

“I feel everyone is in good nick. It is a good sign going forward for the World Cup that Jemi, Harman, everyone is looking really beautiful to watch from the outside. Hopefully, I can watch from the non-strikers end,” she said.

Mandhana refused to buy into the hype around a cricket match between India and Pakistan, instead the 29-year-old wanted the team to focus on the World Cup in its entirety. “We did play India-Pakistan at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (2022) and we had a sell out. Not only India-Pakistan, I just feel we really need to hype up the T20 World Cup. We don’t need to hype up only one match.

“It is already hyped up. I am sure a lot of people are going to come and support us. Hopefully, we can put up a show for them,” said Mandhana.

Published – June 03, 2026 12:31 pm IST

Smriti Mandhana in action during the Women’s Asia Cup T20 Final match against Sri Lanka, at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla on July 28, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has jumped one spot to third in the latest ICC ODI rankings for women released on Tuesday.

Mandhana, who has 738 rating points, is the top-ranked Indian batter in the 50-over format while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained her ninth position.

Sri Lanka’s star batter Chamari Athapaththu has slipped behind Mandhana to fourth place but compatriots Nilakshika de Silva (up three places to 32nd), Harshitha Samarawickrama (up eight places to 44th) and Kavisha Dilhari (up four places to 50th) moved up in the ODI batting rankings.

Mandhana also held on to her fourth spot in the T20 rankings with Sri Lanka’s Samarawickrama and Ireland opener Gaby Lewis reaching career high positions.

Samarawickrama’s knock of 65 off 44 balls in the second T20I between Sri Lanka and Ireland helped her move up three places to 13th position while Lewis’s match-winning 119 off 75 balls has lifted her four places to a career-best-equalling 21st position that she had earlier attained in July 2022.