India suffered a 26-run defeat to England in the second T20I of the three-match series. With the T20 World Cup 2026 just days away, the match offered a perfect opportunity for the Indian team to keep up with the momentum, especially with Harmanpreet Kaur coming back into the playing XI. However, the batters flopped in the second innings, resulting in the series being 1-1 after the first two games.ย
Notably, batting first, England struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking. Their batters managed to spend enough time in the middle, but the strike rate was certainly a problem. The middle order, featuring Amy Jones, Alice Capsey and Heather Knight, batted at a strike rate of less than 130, which can be concerning for the team ahead of the World Cup.
Towards the fag end of the innings, Freya Kamp played a blistering cameo of unbeaten 39 runs off only 13 balls and that ultimately played a vital role in England finishing the game with a win. Courtesy of her knock, the Lionesses posted 168 runs on the board. Meanwhile, with the ball, spinner Sree Charani dominated the proceedings, claiming three wickets for 25 runs in his four overs. Deepti Sharma, the other spinner, who has plenty of experience playing in England, leaked 39 runs in her four.
Harman registers new milestone, India lose
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma looked decent to begin the chase. Shafali, in particular, was accelerating well before she departed for 22 runs. The onus fell on Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia, the latter of whom played some brilliant cricket in the first T20I. However, in the second T20I, the keeper-batter experienced an extremely difficult outing.
She made 33 runs off 36 balls before the team management called her back into the pavilion. Harmanpreet eventually took over the responsibility and completed 4000 T20I runs. She became only the third cricketer, after Suzie Bates and Mandhana, to register the feat. The India captain eventually scored 28 runs off 22 balls and since her dismissal, the wickets fell like a house of cards.
Lauren Bell, Charlie Dean and Kemp ended up picking two wickets each, as the Indian batters have a lot to work on. Barring the top four, none of the batters scored in double digits and that sums up their story tonight.ย
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