India's spinners, fielders steal second T20I to level series

Indian spinners Sneh Rana, Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma conceded just 56 runs in 12 overs, and the pressure applied led to four England run outs, with the hosts falling eight runs short.

Yadav finished with figures of 2/17 off four overs with her leg spin tying England up with flight and guile, as the hosts went from coasting at 106/2 needing a run a ball to losing 28/6 at the backend.

England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and elected to field in sunny conditions, though it was the Indian opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shefali Verma who looked to take the early momentum, combining in a partnership of 70 inside nine overs. Verma was her aggressive best, hitting nine boundaries in a 38-ball 48, while Mandhana in her assured approach (20 off 16 balls), kept things ticking.

England hit back through Freya Davies and Mady Villiers in consecutive overs, removing Mandhana and Verma respectively.

Sophie Ecclestone tied the screws in the middle overs, bowling a maiden in her spell of 0/22 (4), though India struck 23 runs in the last two overs to lift the hosts to 148. Deepti Sharma rotated the strike well in her innings of 24, while a late flurry from Sneh Rana, similar to her death-over efforts in the ODI series, hit runs off all five deliveries faced to lift India to a defendable total of 148.

Arundhati Reddy removed Danni Wyatt for 3 early in England's chase, though it was the fielding of wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh who signalled what was to come. Diving to stop a wide delivery from Shikha Pandey, she found her feet to gather the ball, spin and throw to hit the stumps, and catch Nat Sciver out of ground attempting to steal a run.

Knight and Tammy Beaumont rebuilt rebuilt, with Beaumont bringing up her ninth T20I fifty in the process. Though just as England gained the ascendancy, Deepti Sharma gave India new life, trapping Beaumont lbw on the sweep for 59.

It started an English rot, and after an unfortunate second run up, it started to look like it may not have been England's day. Sharma in her follow through ran out the captain for 30 at the non-striker's end, after the ball deflected off her shoe onto the stumps. There was now doubt of the skill involved in Mandhana's run out of Sophia Dunkley (4) though, after a clean pick up and throw caught England's No.6 inches short, Sharma this time whipping the bails off at the bowler's end.

Amy Jones fell to Yadav into a well set leg-side trap for 11, with Katherine Brunt (5) edging behind to Ghosh next over in a deadly double salvo by the canny leg-spin.

Harleen Deol's electric piece of fielding lit up the first T20 between the two teams, but it was her ground fielding that tore this match apart, completing India's fourth run out of the innings. After being sent back, Mady Villiers (2) was caught napping by a zippy throw from long-on, leaving England still needing 12 runs off the final four deliveries.

Sarah Glenn and Ecclestone couldn't get Rana away, and India, and after looking like they'd handed England a series victory, India stole the match to level the series one match apiece.