Indian women cricket all-rounder Harleen Deol is trending on Twitter for her splendid effort on the field in the first T20 played against England on Friday. She displayed her acrobatic skills in a situation where even the finest of the fielders gets into a 'brain fade'.
She pulled this stunner in the second last over when England was cruising at the strike rate of 8.89 per over. At a score of 166 Amy Jones took the aerial root on the 5th delivery of Indian pace bowler Shikha Pandey and chipped the ball over covers.
The fielder Harleen Deol caught the ball but lost the balance and went past the rope but not before tossing the ball inside the boundary line. A full-length dive was required to complete the catch which she did with her quick reflexes and also ensured no part of her body was touching the rope.
This effort of the all-rounder Harleen Deol was hailed on social media. Master Blaster and former Indian opener Sachin Tendulkar even termed it the catch of the year 2021.
Probably it was the only solace for Indian cricket women in the losing cause. Likewise, the ODI's women cricketers kicked off the T20I series on a sorry note. England managed to put on a decent target of 177 runs with the help of Net Sciver (55 in 27 balls) and handy innings of ME Jones (43 on 27 balls).
In reply to the target of 178 runs, team India lost wickets in quick succession and reached 54 for 3 wickets before the rain interruption. Opener Smriti Mandhana scored 29 runs in 17 deliveries. India was 18 runs behind the par score as per the DLS method and England were announced as the winner.
Earlier England enjoyed a solid start to their innings as Tammy Beaumont (18) and Danni Wyatt (31) put on a 56-run stand before the latter fell caught behind to Radha Yadav (1/33) in the eighth over.
Wyatt was soon followed back to the pavilion behind Beaumont, who holed out to Poonam Yadav (1/32) in the following over.
However, the dismissals did little to stem the flow of runs, with Sciver smashing the equal-fastest half-century by an England batter in women’s T20I history.
The all-rounder blasted her half-century off just 24 balls, hitting eight fours and one six in her 27-ball 55 before falling to Shikha Pandey.
Sciver found impressive company in wicket-keeper Amy Jones, who herself smashed 43 off 27, hitting four fours and two sixes before she too fell to Pandey courtesy a a brilliant bit of fielding from Harleen Deol.
The seamer was the best of India’s bowlers, taking 3/22 from her full allotment, with all three wickets coming in the 19th over.
Chasing a big target for victory, India suffered a significant blow on just its second delivery as Katherine Brunt (1/11), bowled Shafali Verma for a duck.
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.
When captain Harmanpreet Kaur fell for one to Sarah Glenn (1/6) to leave India at 47/3 in the seventh over, victory looked unlikely and so it proved when rain ended the match with her side 18 runs behind the par-score on DLS.(WD/UNI)
