Women's T20 World Cup 2026: India lose to Eng by 5 runs in the warm-up match at the Sophia Garden

Wicketkeeperbatter Richa Ghosh marked a welcome return to her runscoring best by hitting a blistering 68 off 36 balls and nearly pulled off a remarkable chase for India But England held their nerve to secure a tense fiverun victory in the 2026 Womenrsquos T20 World Cup warmup match at the Sophia Garden on WednesdayBefore a rain break Indiarsquos bowlers did well to keep a check on Englandrsquos scoring rate But skipper Nat SciverBrunt found her rhythm by hitting 57 while wicketkeeperbatter Amy Jones was in fine nick by topscoring with 64 Danielle Gibson also smashed 30 not out off just 12 balls to take England past 170Chasing 172 India faltered early and never looked set to complete the chase But Richa took charge to hit a sensational knock laced with nine fours and two sixes at a strikerate of 18889 to almost singlehandedly take India homeBut her fightback fell agonisingly short as she was stumped on the very next delivery off Linsey Smith who took the final wicket to seal a thrilling victory for England by bowling out India for 166 While England now turn their attention to the tournament opener against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on June 12 India will take on Pakistan at the same venue on June 14Indiarsquos chase began with Shafali Vermarsquos brief cameo of 13 brought to a halt when Issy Wong hit her offstump while Smriti Mandhana fell cheaply to Linsey Smith Englandrsquos disciplined attack led by Smith and Tilly CorteenColeman kept India under pressure as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur 17 and Yastika Bhatia 15 also departed without making significant contributionsBharti Fulmali 18 and Radha Yadav 16 tried to steady the innings but wickets at regular intervals left India reeling With Charlie Deanrsquos double strike including Shreyanka Patil and Kranti Gaud Indiarsquos chase was dented further Amidst all this Richa launched a stunning counterattack with her trademark audacious strokeplay especially when Issy Wong and Lauren Filer faltered in their lines and lengthsHer 33run stand with Radha off just 19 balls revived Indiarsquos hopes and she continued to find boundaries even as partners fell around her With India needing 17 off the final over Richa smashed a four and a six off Smith to reduce the equation to a gettable six runs from three balls But her dismissal ndash stumped by Alice Capsey off Linsey meant the result went in Englandrsquos favourEarlier Amy gave England a fantastic start to set a solid foundation for Englandrsquos competitive total before Nat took charge with a brilliant knock to power the sidersquos scoring rate through the middle overs as the duo hit eight boundaries eachThe real fireworks came late in the innings from Danielle who hit four boundaries and Englandrsquos lone six in the innings For India Shreyanka Patil was the pick of the bowlers by taking two scalps though they will be worried with 43 runs conceded in the last three oversBrief Scores England 1716 in 20 overs Amy Jones 64 Nat SciverBrunt 57 Shreyanka Patil 229 Shafali Verma 118 beat India 166 all out in 195 overs Richa Ghosh 68 Harmanpreet Kaur 17 Linsey Smith 342 Danielle Gibson 217 by five runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever