England held their nerve to keep the T20 series alive with a thrilling last-ball victory by five runs against India at The Oval.Chasing 172 to win, India needed 12 from the last over and six off the final ball, but seamer Lauren Bell had opposing captain Harmanpreet Kaur caught at mid-off for 23 - and the hosts now only trail 2-1 in the series with two matches to play.
The tourists, eyeing a series win at the earliest opportunity, were in full control, needing 49 from 42 balls with nine wickets in hand before an eye-catching spell of fast bowling from Lauren Filer changed the course of the game on Friday.Filer had Jemimah Rodrigues caught behind for 20 and star batter Smriti Mandhana, who made 56, was also beaten for pace and caught at mid-on as the quick regularly reached speeds of 79mph.
Harmanpreet's knock kept India in the hunt but England restricted them to 166-5 despite a flurry of dropped chances in a chaotic ending, setting up a tantalising encounter in the fourth of five T20s at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
England's first innings also provided plenty of drama, as they raced to 137-0 after fine half-centuries from Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, before losing nine wickets for 31 runs in the space of 4.4 overs, and finishing with 171-9.
Dunkley made 75 from 53 balls and Wyatt-Hodge struck 66 from 42, but Sophie Ecclestone's 10 was the only other score in double figures in a collapse which included three batters falling first ball.Stand-in England captain Tammy Beaumont said, "I think that's what you live for in cricket. As captain, those are the moments you live for.
"This is a massive moment for this team. We know it wasn't the perfect game but we've been asking for improvement every game and there was some significant improvement," she said.
"Now we believe we can go toe-to-toe with this India team and come out on top," Beaumont said.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said "I think we were in the game until the 16th over, but after that we didn't utilise. We were executing our plans and looking for a few boundaries and we were just short by a boundary in the end."England's Sophia Dunkley, player of the match said, "That was absolutely unreal. I don't think I've played in a game like that. The atmosphere, the crowd and the game were amazing." (UNI)
