Archive July 1, 2025

Second T20, Bristol

India 181-4 (20 overs): A Kaur 63* (40), Rodrigues 63 (41); Bell 2-17

England 157-7 (20 overs): Beaumont 54 (35); Shree Charani 2-28

India won by 24 runs; lead series 2-0

A poor all-round performance from England saw India take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20 series with a convincing 24-run win at Bristol.

England dominated the opening powerplay as India slipped to 31-3 – including Saturday’s centurion Smriti Mandhana for 13 – but contributions of 63 apiece from Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur led a brilliant recovery to 181-4.

The pair added 93 for the fourth wicket as England lost control of the middle overs, before Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 32 boosted the innings at the death.

In reply, England’s all too familiar batting frailties were exposed once again as they failed to recover from an early wobble to 17-3, eventually scrambling to 157-7 after Tammy Beaumont’s 54 and a cameo of 35 from Sophie Ecclestone.

Openers Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley fell in the first two overs and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt was caught at mid-on for 13, before Beaumont’s counter-attacking knock kept England in the game with 106 needed from the final 10 overs.

But Beaumont’s run out in the 12th over shifted the game back in India’s favour and Amy Jones – who added 70 for the fourth wicket with Beaumont – and Alice Capsey both followed shortly after in the 15th, dismissed by the left-arm spin of Shree Charani.

If India’s dominance at Trent Bridge was lit up by Mandhana’s individual class, this innings required an all-round team effort after their powerhouses – Mandhana herself and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was returning from injury, both fell cheaply.

England experimented with Capsey’s off-spin for the first over, which conceded 11, but seamers Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer dragged the control back brilliantly.

The latter dismissed Shafali Verma with an unplayable short ball that reared up and pinned the opener on the glove to be caught behind, Em Arlott had Mandhana well caught at mid-on by Bell before Harmanpreet pulled a poor delivery to short fine leg.

But Rodrigues, who came in at three, settled into her knock with exceptionally judged running between the wickets and putting the pressure on England’s fielders before unveiling an array of ramps over the keeper and her movement around the crease completely threw England’s bowlers off their length.

Amanjot took a backseat in the partnership, but when Rodrigues was dismissed thanks to Dunkley’s flying catch at cover off Bell, Amanjot stepped up with her maiden T20 fifty and with Ghosh – who was inexplicably dropped by Beaumont on 12 – took the game away from England.

Faced with a competitive total on a sluggish surface, there was a feeling of inevitability around how England’s innings would unfold, and it started to unravel almost immediately.

Dunkley was run out at the end of the first over by Deepti Sharma before she then dismissed Wyatt-Hodge from the first ball of the second, bizarrely striking the ball straight to mid-off as the opener now has just one run from her past four T20 innings.

Sciver-Brunt fell in the fourth over but Beaumont, recently recalled to the T20 side after a couple of years in and out, seemed to learn from India’s batters and shifted around the crease efficiently to force the spinners off target with eight fours and a six, batting with her trademark swagger and a determined look to steer her side to victory.

But she was called through for a risky single from Jones, and Sneh Rana at point pulled off an exceptional piece of work to summarise India’s noticeable improvement in the field, swooping and throwing in one movement while still on her knees, with bowler Radha Yadav whipping off the bails as Beaumont’s full-stretch dive saw her just short of her ground.

From there, it was a precession. Another soft dismissal for Capsey saw her chip Shree Charani to cover for five, Jones was caught and bowled four balls later and despite Ecclestone and Arlott’s entertaining seventh-wicket stand of 47, the result was already a foregone conclusion.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt: “I thought we started off well in the powerplay with three wickets. Every bowler that came on was really focused on that but then they got a big partnership, which we didn’t adapt to as quickly as we’d like.

“Some positives, Lauren Bell bowled a brilliant four overs and everyone really stuck to the task and tried to grind it out so the effort was really there. “

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur: “It was a good win for us. It’s something special to see.

“We stay positive, see how many runs we can put on the board and see how our bowlers can contribute.

Second T20, Bristol

India 181-4 (20 overs): A Kaur 63* (40), Rodrigues 63 (41); Bell 2-17

England 157-7 (20 overs): Beaumont 54 (35); Shree Charani 2-28

India won by 24 runs; lead series 2-0

A poor all-round performance from England saw India take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20 series with a convincing 24-run win at Bristol.

England dominated the opening powerplay as India slipped to 31-3 – including Saturday’s centurion Smriti Mandhana for 13 – but contributions of 63 apiece from Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur led a brilliant recovery to 181-4.

The pair added 93 for the fourth wicket as England lost control of the middle overs, before Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 32 boosted the innings at the death.

In reply, England’s all too familiar batting frailties were exposed once again as they failed to recover from an early wobble to 17-3, eventually scrambling to 157-7 after Tammy Beaumont’s 54 and a cameo of 35 from Sophie Ecclestone.

Openers Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley fell in the first two overs and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt was caught at mid-on for 13, before Beaumont’s counter-attacking knock kept England in the game with 106 needed from the final 10 overs.

But Beaumont’s run out in the 12th over shifted the game back in India’s favour and Amy Jones – who added 70 for the fourth wicket with Beaumont – and Alice Capsey both followed shortly after in the 15th, dismissed by the left-arm spin of Shree Charani.

If India’s dominance at Trent Bridge was lit up by Mandhana’s individual class, this innings required an all-round team effort after their powerhouses – Mandhana herself and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was returning from injury, both fell cheaply.

England experimented with Capsey’s off-spin for the first over, which conceded 11, but seamers Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer dragged the control back brilliantly.

The latter dismissed Shafali Verma with an unplayable short ball that reared up and pinned the opener on the glove to be caught behind, Em Arlott had Mandhana well caught at mid-on by Bell before Harmanpreet pulled a poor delivery to short fine leg.

But Rodrigues, who came in at three, settled into her knock with exceptionally judged running between the wickets and putting the pressure on England’s fielders before unveiling an array of ramps over the keeper and her movement around the crease completely threw England’s bowlers off their length.

Amanjot took a backseat in the partnership, but when Rodrigues was dismissed thanks to Dunkley’s flying catch at cover off Bell, Amanjot stepped up with her maiden T20 fifty and with Ghosh – who was inexplicably dropped by Beaumont on 12 – took the game away from England.

Faced with a competitive total on a sluggish surface, there was a feeling of inevitability around how England’s innings would unfold, and it started to unravel almost immediately.

Dunkley was run out at the end of the first over by Deepti Sharma before she then dismissed Wyatt-Hodge from the first ball of the second, bizarrely striking the ball straight to mid-off as the opener now has just one run from her past four T20 innings.

Sciver-Brunt fell in the fourth over but Beaumont, recently recalled to the T20 side after a couple of years in and out, seemed to learn from India’s batters and shifted around the crease efficiently to force the spinners off target with eight fours and a six, batting with her trademark swagger and a determined look to steer her side to victory.

But she was called through for a risky single from Jones, and Sneh Rana at point pulled off an exceptional piece of work to summarise India’s noticeable improvement in the field, swooping and throwing in one movement while still on her knees, with bowler Radha Yadav whipping off the bails as Beaumont’s full-stretch dive saw her just short of her ground.

From there, it was a precession. Another soft dismissal for Capsey saw her chip Shree Charani to cover for five, Jones was caught and bowled four balls later and despite Ecclestone and Arlott’s entertaining seventh-wicket stand of 47, the result was already a foregone conclusion.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt: “I thought we started off well in the powerplay with three wickets. Every bowler that came on was really focused on that but then they got a big partnership, which we didn’t adapt to as quickly as we’d like.

“Some positives, Lauren Bell bowled a brilliant four overs and everyone really stuck to the task and tried to grind it out so the effort was really there. “

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur: “It was a good win for us. It’s something special to see.

“We stay positive, see how many runs we can put on the board and see how our bowlers can contribute.

Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday and emphasise the importance of the sport to the United Kingdom’s economy.

Domenicali, who is meeting Sir Keir at 10 Downing Street along with several drivers and team principals as part of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of F1, described the UK as “the heart and rock and roll of this business”.

The Italian will raise some of the logistical issues faced by F1 as a result of the restrictions imposed on travel by Brexit, while painting the sport as an industry essential to the UK.

“For the first time, we’re going to have this opportunity to present the F1 ecosystem to your government,” Domenicali said. “It is important to remind to everyone how this country is really the heart and rock and roll of this business.

“Because everything started here in 1950, the first race, and the offices of this business are here in the centre of London. The vast majority of the teams and the ecosystem is here in the UK. “

Domenicali said that the F1 industry is worth £12bn annually to the UK economy, employs more than 6,000 people and has a supply chain involving 4,500 companies.

Seven of the 10 teams are based in the UK, and 10 of the 11 teams that will be in F1 next year – when Cadillac enters – will have bases in the country.

In addition to mentioning the difficulties post-Brexit restrictions create for staff moving between Europe and the UK with regard to visas, Domenicali will also press F1’s sustainability credentials.

Next year, as part of a plan to be net-zero carbon by 2030, F1 is introducing new engines that produce 50% of their total power output from the electrical part of the engine, and use fully sustainable fuels.

F1 believes that sustainable fuels – petrol replacements that are manufactured either from biomass or carbon capture using industrial processes – can play an important role in reducing the carbon emissions created by transport.

Domenicali said: “There are things that we need to solve in terms of facilitating the tie-down with Brexit.

“There are complications for the movement, there are complications for the visas for people.

“And I’m saying that because it’s relevant to give the possibility for people to be attracted to work here. Because if you lose that link, then immediately the centre could be moving to other places. “

However, he emphasised: “I don’t want to see this as a threat. But I think it’s a matter of respect of what we represent for this country to consider in the right way what could be the limiting factor of development of this industry in this country.

Domenicali said he expected this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone to have an all-time record crowd across the four days of about 500,000 people.

But he said Silverstone had a responsibility to ensure it could manage the ingress and egress of that amount of spectators without causing major traffic problems.

These had been consigned to the past, but became a major concern again at Silverstone last year.

Domenicali said it was “important” for British GP organisers to create a network to minimise the “bottleneck” of people at the event.

He added: “This is the most important element, which we’re going to push them, to keep developing their plan.

“That is not only how they commercialise their packages, in terms of offers for the fans, but also how the fans can arrive in the right way. “

Domenicali said F1 had “a plan” in case the conflict between Israel and Iran affected the season-closing races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

He would not say what that plan was, but intimated that there were contingency arrangements in place to hold races elsewhere if necessary.

“I don’t want to even think about it,” he said. “But mainly because of the bigger picture. “

He said the promoters of the two races were “very serious”.

Domenicali added: “We are not worried at all that this will have an effect.

“Hopefully, from here to the end of the year, the situation will ease down and there will be no problem.

Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday and emphasise the importance of the sport to the United Kingdom’s economy.

Domenicali, who is meeting Sir Keir at 10 Downing Street along with several drivers and team principals as part of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of F1, described the UK as “the heart and rock and roll of this business”.

The Italian will raise some of the logistical issues faced by F1 as a result of the restrictions imposed on travel by Brexit, while painting the sport as an industry essential to the UK.

“For the first time, we’re going to have this opportunity to present the F1 ecosystem to your government,” Domenicali said. “It is important to remind to everyone how this country is really the heart and rock and roll of this business.

“Because everything started here in 1950, the first race, and the offices of this business are here in the centre of London. The vast majority of the teams and the ecosystem is here in the UK. “

Domenicali said that the F1 industry is worth £12bn annually to the UK economy, employs more than 6,000 people and has a supply chain involving 4,500 companies.

Seven of the 10 teams are based in the UK, and 10 of the 11 teams that will be in F1 next year – when Cadillac enters – will have bases in the country.

In addition to mentioning the difficulties post-Brexit restrictions create for staff moving between Europe and the UK with regard to visas, Domenicali will also press F1’s sustainability credentials.

Next year, as part of a plan to be net-zero carbon by 2030, F1 is introducing new engines that produce 50% of their total power output from the electrical part of the engine, and use fully sustainable fuels.

F1 believes that sustainable fuels – petrol replacements that are manufactured either from biomass or carbon capture using industrial processes – can play an important role in reducing the carbon emissions created by transport.

Domenicali said: “There are things that we need to solve in terms of facilitating the tie-down with Brexit.

“There are complications for the movement, there are complications for the visas for people.

“And I’m saying that because it’s relevant to give the possibility for people to be attracted to work here. Because if you lose that link, then immediately the centre could be moving to other places. “

However, he emphasised: “I don’t want to see this as a threat. But I think it’s a matter of respect of what we represent for this country to consider in the right way what could be the limiting factor of development of this industry in this country.

Domenicali said he expected this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone to have an all-time record crowd across the four days of about 500,000 people.

But he said Silverstone had a responsibility to ensure it could manage the ingress and egress of that amount of spectators without causing major traffic problems.

These had been consigned to the past, but became a major concern again at Silverstone last year.

Domenicali said it was “important” for British GP organisers to create a network to minimise the “bottleneck” of people at the event.

He added: “This is the most important element, which we’re going to push them, to keep developing their plan.

“That is not only how they commercialise their packages, in terms of offers for the fans, but also how the fans can arrive in the right way. “

Domenicali said F1 had “a plan” in case the conflict between Israel and Iran affected the season-closing races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

He would not say what that plan was, but intimated that there were contingency arrangements in place to hold races elsewhere if necessary.

“I don’t want to even think about it,” he said. “But mainly because of the bigger picture. “

He said the promoters of the two races were “very serious”.

Domenicali added: “We are not worried at all that this will have an effect.

“Hopefully, from here to the end of the year, the situation will ease down and there will be no problem.