England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against India.
After leading England in the first two games, Sciver-Brunt had missed the third T20I of the five-match series against India, at The Oval, due to a groin injury she had sustained during the second T20I. Tammy Beaumont led England for the first time in her absence.
England rode on a 92-ball 137-run opening stand between Sophia Dunkley (75 in 53 balls) and Danni Wyatt-Hodge (66 in 42 to put an end to her poor form) to amass 171-9 as Arundhati Reddy returned 3-32 and Deepti Sharma 3-27.
India, too, began well in response, thanks to a 54-ball 85-run first-wicket partnership between Smriti Mandhana (56 in 49) and Shafali Verma (47 in 25), but they ran out of steam in the middle overs, and fell short by five runs as Lauren Flier returned 2-30 and Sophie Ecclestone 4-0-24-1.
Despite the defeat, however, India hold a 2-1 lead in the series by virtue of their wins at Trent Bridge (by a record 97 runs) and at Bristol (by 24 runs).
Nat Sciver-Brunt ruled out of India T20Is, expected to return for ODIs
According to an ECB press release, the injury will force Sciver-Brunt to miss the last two games of the series as well, at Old Trafford on July 9 and at Edgbaston on July 12. Beaumont will continue to lead England, while Maia Bouchier has been named her replacement in the squad.
The release assured that Sciver-Brunt “is expected to be available for selection” for the ODIs that will follow, at Southampton on July 16, at Lord’s on July 19, and at Chester-le-Street on July 22.
