Cricket
England trail India 2-0 in the five-match Women’s T20 international series as Tammy Beaumont steps in to captain England for the third T20; watch the third WT20I at The Kia Oval on Friday, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 6.30pm (first ball 6.35pm)
Friday 4 July 2025 06:18, UK
Stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont insists England Women must not panic as they bid to stay in their T20 series with India, despite the job being made harder by Nat Sciver-Brunt being ruled out of the third match due to a left groin injury.
Sciver-Brunt has undergone a scan on her injury, the results of which will determine if she misses any more games in the series, but she will at least miss out at the Kia Oval as England look to drag their way back into a five-match series they trail 2-0.
The recently-recalled Beaumont will lead the side in Sciver-Brunt’s absence ahead of understudy Sohia Dunkley, with Hampshire batter Maia Bouchier, who has not featured for England since last winter’s Ashes whitewash defeat, drafted in as cover.
Dunkley will keep her position as vice-captain in south London and Beaumont explained: “Sophia is quite a young player and someone we’re investing in to be a leader of the future. But unfortunately in this situation, it probably needs someone with a bit more experience.
“It’s a real honour to be asked to do the job. We need a bit of a fight to come out in this series and I’m probably someone who likes to get in a battle, so I can understand why [she was made captain].”
The fourth T20 takes place at Old Trafford next Wednesday before the final T20 at Edgbaston on Saturday July 12 ahead of a three-match ODI series that begins on July 16.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Having been comprehensively beaten in the first two T20s, England now must win the last three to ensure Charlotte Edwards does not suffer her first series defeat since becoming head coach earlier this year.
Stream England vs India with no contract
Recap: England vs India – as it happened
England women’s results and fixtures
Scorecard: England vs India, second T20
Beaumont added: “I think the worst thing we could do right now is panic. We didn’t want to be 2-0 down, we didn’t want our captain and best batter to be out of the team but we are where we are.
“We’ve got to try and bring some calm to it, some rationale and logic and we certainly believe we can come back and win this.
“We’ll be coming out fighting again. Full credit to India, they’ve challenged and pushed us but I certainly intend on getting the girls to try and respond to what’s happened so far.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Speaking after Tuesday’s defeat at Bristol, Sciver-Brunt insisted it was “not the end” for her side going into the rest of the T20 series, instead taking the positives from two losses against world-class opponents.
There were improvements made – in periods – at the Seat Unique Stadium from the performance seen three days earlier by England, with early wickets, strong bowling spells and individual batting highlights all visible.
“I thought we started off really well in the power play, taking three wickets, which we didn’t in the first game,” Sciver-Brunt told Sky Sports. “Every bowler that came on was really focused on that, which is part of our strategy.
“Then they [India] obviously got a big partnership together, which we probably didn’t adapt to as quickly as we would have liked. Everyone really stuck to the task and tried to grind it out, so the effort was there.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
On the batting display, having seen England’s top order struggle for a second successive game, Sciver-Brunt added: “We have full confidence in our players. We select the batters that we feel are in form, and I guess we’ll see how it goes.
“We needed some partnerships. Tammy [Beaumont] and Amy [Jones] showed us the way with that. We just probably needed another one on top of that. But it’s obviously tricky when you lose a couple of early wickets.
“I guess that it’s not the end [of the series]. We can really fight back and come back with some maybe fresh ideas but also be a little more clinical in the ones that we do want to execute.”
All time UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports
Watch England’s third T20I against India live on Sky Sports Cricket from Friday July 4, with live coverage from 6pm ahead of the first ball at 6.30pm at the Kia Oval. Not got Sky? Stream cricket and more with no contract.
© 2025 Sky UK
