India’s teen sensation Harleen Deol won the hearts of fans and experts as she pulled off a stunner to dismiss England women batter Amy Jones during the first T20I in Northampton on Friday.
It all happened in the 19th over of the first innings when Jones smashed the ball towards the wide long-off region, and Harleen produced a jaw-dropping effort first to save the six and then complete a stunning catch.
Jones walked back to the pavilion for a well-made 43 off just 27 deliveries.
Despite Deol’s effort, England finished with 177 for seven at the end of their 20 overs. India did bounce back with the successive dismissals of the hosts’ openers, who had laid a strong foundation by adding 56 runs in 7.2 overs.
But England came back strongly by adding 90 runs in the last eight overs with Natalie Sciver (55 off 27) and Jones stitching a 78-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Here is the video of Harleen Deol’s brilliance:
A fantastic piece of fielding 👏
We finish our innings on 177/7
Scorecard & Videos: https://t.co/oG3JwmemFp#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/62hFjTsULJ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 9, 2021
However, India’s chase suffered a significant blow as they lost the wicket of inform Shafali Verma on the second delivery of their innings. Katherine Brunt (1/11) cleaned up Verma for a duck.
Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana did her best to keep the tourists in the game with an exciting 29 off 17, only to perish to Sciver (1/16) at the end of the powerplay.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (1) once again fell cheaply, leaving India reeling at 47/3 in the seventh over. Victory seemed unlikely for the Women in Blue, and it also proved when rain ended the match with India being 18 runs behind the par-score on DLS.
