England stand-in captain Amy Jones felt her team was unable to capitalise with the ball and credited India for chasing down a below-par 143 in the second T20I at Derby.Following their nine-wicket defeat against England in the opening T20I at Durham, India hit back by levelling the series with an eight-wicket win as vice-captain Smriti Mandhana smashed an unbeaten 79 off 53 balls at the Country Ground in Derby late on Tuesday.
Electing to bat first, England slumped quickly to 16/3 in first three overs and became 54/5 in no time before 17-year-old left-hander batter, pacer Freya Kemp, guided them to a face-saving 142/6 with an unbeaten 51 off 37 balls, laced with three fours and as many sixes.
“I think potentially we were a bit under par (in setting a target of 143). After the start we had, it was brilliant from Kemp and (Maia) Bouchier, we knew we had a total that we had a good crack at defending. Once we didn’t get the early wicket it made it harder, but India batted brilliantly,” said Amy after the match ended.
Asked about Freya” outstanding counter-attack with the bat, Amy remarked, “What a talent (Kemp is). We have seen it through the summer and for her to get her first 50 so early, great to see. She’s a real athlete and works well with both bat and ball.”
Maia, who was on the rebuild job for England with Freya, revealed that her plan was to stick to their strength in order to get some runs on board after early meltdown. “Very pleased (with her batting). I am happy to get out there and play.
The main thing was to stick to our strengths and hit straight.””We (Kemp and Bouchier) haven’t batted together before, it was nice to get out there and bat together. It (the pitch) was nice to bat on with the pace bowlers.
It (the ball) came on quite nicely.”With the three-match series currently at 1-1, the decider at Bristol on Thursday will decide who between England and India will finish on a high.
