India women reassert authority

Anjum Chopra's unbeaten 61 ended England's already faint hopes of engineering victory in the third match of the series

India women regained the initiative in the one-day series against England after cruising to a comprehensive seven-wicket win in Visakhapatnam.

Having won a tight encounter in Bangalore on Monday, England failed to build on that success as they were hustled out for just 130 in the third game of the campaign today.

A far from challenging target proved well within the reach of a well-drilled India side, for whom Anjum Chopra hit an unbeaten 61 as they wrapped up victory with 9.1 overs to spare and opened up a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Although England claimed three wickets in five overs late on to raise faint hopes of the sort of collapse that cost India dear earlier in the week, in reality there was never much doubt over the outcome of this contest after the tourists’ inadequate batting display.

Beth Morgan top-scored with 24, and Charlotte Edwards and Laura Marsh both made 22, while Lydia Greenway was the only other player to manage more than Caroline Atkins’ 12 on a pitch offering the bowlers surprising bounce.

Wickets tumbled regularly throughout, from Ebony Rainford-Brent’s demise in the fourth over to Nicky Shaw’s with four balls of the last over remaining.

Seamer Rumeli Dhar did the bulk of the damage by claiming 4-19 off 10 overs, and there were two cheap wickets apiece for fellow opening bowler Jhulan Goswami and spin pair Preeti Dimri and Gouher Sultana.

An opening stand of 97 between Chopra and Poonam Raut, who hit nine fours in her 44, formed the cornerstone of India’s successful pursuit.

Although Raut and Priyanka Roy fell in the space of three balls from Jenny Gunn, and Katherine Brunt bowled Anagha Deshpande shortly after, Chopra held firm.

England captain Edwards said: "It's a very different pitch to the one in Bangalore - it has a bit more bounce, a great batting wicket - and Dhar bowled well early on, but we just didn't bat well enough.

"It's been a great series so far, with two evenly matched teams, so we'll see what happens on Friday. We'll come back hard."

England must win the last two games, at the same venue on Friday and in Mumbai next Monday, if they are to record a maiden series win on Indian soil.

The new Brit Insurance 2010-11 official England Cricket Team kit will be available to pre order from April 1 via ecb.co.uk, and in store from April 29