Richa Ghosh almost pulled off a miraculous win, but her late dismissal saw India lose their last warm-up fixture against England before the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. India were asked to chase 172 at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, in their last practice outing and were practically never in the chase after continuous strikes from English bowlers saw them playing catch-up.
It wasn’t until Richa Ghosh arrived and decided to take the hosts on with her impressive strokeplay. The Women in Blue were reeling at 134/8 at the end of the 18th over and needed some magic for a win. They needed 38 runs from the final two overs, and a win had almost eluded them, but Ghosh lined Issy Wong up for three fours and a six in a 21-run over that gave them hope.
They needed 17 runs from the final over, and Ghosh had hit 10 after Sree Charani gave her the strike on the first ball. However, just when India thought they had the game with six needed from three balls, the wicketkeeper was stumped out as Linsey Smith got the prized wicket. She made a heroic 68 from 36 balls, but with no other batters around, the Women in Blue could not close the contest out, suffering a five-wicket loss.
Questions on India’s batting
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, question marks remain on India’s batting and particularly the openers. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have blown hot and cold, and the two were dismissed pretty early in the chase. Mandhana fell on one while trying to sweep, and Shafali was cleaned up by Wong on 13.
Mandhana has not been at her best of late. She has not made a single fifty-plus score in her last nine T20 innings, with three single-digit scores in them and three 30-plus outings. Things have not been going well for Shafali recently, either. She was in fine form in the initial matches against South Africa in India’s 1-4 loss, but she seems to have lost steam since then. The Haryana opener has crossed 30 in only one of the last eight outings, and that was a fifty against ECB Women’s XI in Chelmsford at the end of May.
Absence of Amanjot, Kashvee to hurt too?
India will also be missing Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam, both of whom were not available for selection for the T20 World Cup. The duo have left a big void as India don’t have a proper sixth-bowling option. Shafali Verma would have to roll her arm over in case India need extended support from their bowlers. She has been used as the sixth bowling option in both of the last two T20Is.
India placed in tough group in T20 World Cup
India have been placed in a group that features the mighty Australia and twin T20 finalists South Africa. Minnows Bangladesh, Pakistan, and debutants Netherlands can’t be called pushovers either, as the format does not give teams much of a chance to bounce back once down. India open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 14 in Birmingham before a trip to Headingley for their Netherlands game on June 17. The caravan will then move to Manchester to face South Africa and Bangladesh on June 21 and 25 before their final league stage outing against the mighty Australians at Lord’s on June 28.
ALSO READ | Jemimah Rodrigues shares how Sachin Tendulkar helped ‘reset mind’ ahead of ODI World Cup 2025 final