ENG W vs IND W | Mithali Raj shines again to lead India to first victory on England tour
Indian captain Mithali Raj slammed her third successive half-century and also became the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket en-route India's four-wicket win over England in the final ODI in Worcester.
In the 220-run chase, Raj remained unbeaten on 75 to ensure India's victory. While England won the ODI series 2-1, the tour's point tally now stands at 6-4 in the favour of England, with three T20Is still remaining.
Both the sides shared two points each in the drawn Test, and England further accumulated four points with twin victories in the first two ODIs of the series.
The Indian skipper showed great resilience - similar to the previous two ODIs of the series, as she held one end while the wickets continued to tumble on the other.
Smriti Mandhana (49) formed the base for the Indian run-chase early after Shafali Verma (19) and Jemimah Rodrigues (4) were dismissed cheaply. After Mandhana's dismissal, Raj took over the role she has excelled over the years, anchoring the innings to keep India in the game.
Harmanpreet Kaur's poor run with the bat continued, as she could only score 16 at a dismal strike rate of 42.11. Kaur was dismissed when she missed a reverse sweep off Knight. The TV replays showed that if she had reviewed the call, the decision, would have been overturned.
Deepti Sharma (18 off 25) and Sneh Rana (24 off 22) played important cameos towards the end before Raj and Jhulan Goswami -- the two with the highest experience in the Indian squad, led the side to win.
Earlier, England were placed comfortably at 110 for two but their strategy to attack Indian spinners resulted in wickets falling in clutches, resulting in a middle-order collapse.
Sneh Rana (1/31), Poonam Yadav (1/43) and Harmanpreet Kaur (1/24)accounted for one batter each.
The hosts were eventually restricted to 219 in 47 overs, with Deepti being the pick of the bowlers (3/47). For England, Heather Knight was the highest scorer with 46.
The T20I series will begin on July 9, with the first game taking place at County Ground, Northampton.
