Kent trio all play their part as England women win opening t20 match

Kent batting stars Charlotte Edwards (pictured) and Lydia Greenway contributed valuable runs, and Tammy Beaumont had a great day behind the stumps, as England women edged out India by two wickets in the first Twenty20 International in Mumbai.

India batted first in this low-scoring thriller and their openers Sulakshana Naik and Anjum Chopra put on 32 for the first wicket, in the opening powerplay overs, before Nicky Shaw dismissed Naik for 21; Chopra soon followed for 15. Mithali Raj, who impressed in the recent ODI series, built on the solid foundation and raced to 30 before Kent duo Edwards and Beaumont combined to see her dismissed; with the wicketkeeper completing the stumping. Late cameo knocks from Priyanka Roy (19) and Amita Sharma (16 not out) saw India up to 125 for five off their twenty overs. Edwards was the pick of the England bowlers, taking one for 20 and Beaumont helped to run-out Roy to compliment her stumping.

Edwards took a captain“s lead in the reply, and despite losing fellow opener Ebony Rainford-Brent for just five, found decent support from Beth Morgan and Greenway, who both contributed 16, before falling to the bowling of Soniya Dabir for 28. After 12 overs England were 68 for four and much needed impetus was provided by Jenny Gunn. She blasted 34 off 24 balls including one six, and with the help of Danielle Hazell (14), got the required run rate off the last over down to just six. However, Hazell was run-out off the first ball and Gunn was caught off the third ball leaving England requiring four off the final three balls to take victory. With Shaw on strike, she ran a two off the fourth ball, the next was a dot leaving two required to win off the last ball. With Gouher Sultana bowling, Shaw drove the delivery back to the bowler but managed to scramble through for a single. However, it was a tight single and as Sultana tried to execute a run-out, she missed the stumps and with no-one backing up England were able to run an overthrow to claim a nerve-jangling two wicket victory.

The second match in the three game series is on Saturday with Mumbai again being the venue.