Deepti Sharma displayed immense poise to score an unbeaten half century, which powered India to an easy four-wicket victory against England in the opening women’s ODI.

A precursor to India’s 50-over World Cup, the match began on the right note for the Indian team as they chased the 259-run target with 10 balls to spare, thanks to Deepti’s unbeaten 62 off 64 balls, which included three boundaries and a six. Her 90-run fifth wicket stand in 14.2 overs with Jemimah Rodrigues (48 off 54 balls) turned out to be a match-winning partnership.

All-rounder Amanjot Kaur (20 off 14 balls) provided the finishing touches with some attacking shots as India achieved the target quite comfortably despite being reduced to 124 for 4 after the fall of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s wicket.

Deepti and Rodrigues took over and kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and occasional boundaries on loose deliveries. Deepti, whose slog-over batting has always come in for a lot of criticism, was brilliant in her approach to  the run chase.

Her one-handed six off Lauren Bell over deep mid-wicket was undoubtedly the shot of the match. She effortlessly picked a length ball from outside the off-stump and dispatched it over deep mid-wicket with her bottom hand coming off the handle.

Indian captain Harmanpreet was pleased with Deepti’s performance. She also praised Rodrigues, who missed out on a half-century by just two runs. “Happy with the way we bowled. Really happy with how we batted, especially Deepti. Her innings was crucial. We thought we gave away an extra 20-30 runs. It was a good wicket to bat on. Fielding is something we are working on. We missed two chances today. We will try to do better. Jemi is calm on the field and credit goes to Deepti for the way she batted,” said Harmanpreet, who was unlucky to get out on 17.

Earlier, young seamer Kranti Goud took two wickets before Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten 92-ball 83 took England to 258 for six. Besides Goud (2/55 in 9 overs), off-spinner Sneh Rana (2/31 in 10 overs) also picked up two wickets. Alice Davidson Richards made 53 in 73 balls in a 106-run partnership for England for the fifth wicket with Dunkley, who hit nine fours. Opting to bat after winning the toss, England were 97 for four at one stage.