Twitter Reactions: Renuka Singh and Smriti Mandhana's efforts in vain as England trump India in Women's T20 World Cup

England Women pulled off a thrilling win against India in the 14th match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 on Saturday (February 18). Renuka Singh Thakur made headlines again with a five-wicket spell but Nat Sciver-Brunt's fifty helped England to post a challenging total while batting first. Smriti Mandhana smashed her seventh WT20I fifty against England but the England bowlers managed to defend the total by 11 runs. Nat Sciver-Brunt was adjudged the Player of the Match.

Both England and India had won their opening two matches respectively in the tournament and were competing for a top spot in Group 2. Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bowl first at the St George's Park in Gqeberha. Pacer Shikha Pandey replaced spin all-rounder Devika Vaidya for India while England remained unchanged from their last clash. 

Renuka gave India a flying start with Danni Wyatt's wicket on the matches' third ball. Richa Ghosh took a splendid one-handed catch behind the stumps to remove Wyatt for a golden duck. Renuka then clean bowled Alice Capsey in the third over and Sophia Dunkley in the fifth over to put England under pressure.

But captain Heather Knight and star all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt stood firm against the Indian bowling attack with a crucial 51-run stand to drag England from 29/3 to 80/4. Pandey broke the partnership with Knight's wicket in the 11th over but Nat Sciver-Brunt managed to register a fifty. She scored 50 off 42 balls before getting caught out on Deepti Sharma's delivery in the 17th over.

Amy Jones added a crucial 40 off 27 to keep England on track for a big total. But Renuka hit back again in the last over with two wickets to complete her five-wicket haul. Apart from Renuka's superb spell, Deepti and Shikha took a wicket each as England posted 151/7 in 20 overs.

Smriti gave India a good start in their chase with a 29-run partnership for the opening wicket alongside Shafali Verma. Speedster Lauren Bell gave England an opening with Shafali's wicket in the fourth over but Smriti kept finding the runs at the other end.

Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur struggled to support Smriti and gave away their wickets cheaply. But the in-form youngster Richa Ghosh and Smriti pulled off a 43-run partnership for the fourth wicket to keep India alive in the chase.

Mandhana smashed 52 off 41 before getting out to Sarah Glenn's delivery in the 16th over. Richa kept India's hopes alive till the last over but England managed to survive by 11 runs. Glenn took two for 27 while Bell and Ecclestone bagged one wicket each for England as they restricted India to just 140/5 in 20 overs.

This is England's sixth consecutive T20 World Cup win over India and now they further cement their top position in the Group 2 table with three wins in three games.

Here is how Twitter reacted to England's win over India in the Women's T20 World Cup 2023, Match 14:

Never thought I ever would, but I did. Watched India vs Eng Women’s T 20 match. Back to back.

Well done R Thakur
Well done S Mandhana
Well done Richa
Well done team india. Never mind the loss. It was close. You fought well

— Sandeep Thapar 🇮🇳 (@sandythapar) February 18, 2023

A spell to remember by Renuka Singh Thakur vs England:

- 4 overs
- 15 runs
- 5 wickets

She took the backbone of England's top order & set the momentum for India. pic.twitter.com/qoftbrAyEU

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 18, 2023

Renuka Singh Thakur today:

- First Indian pacer to take five-wicket in T20 WC.

- Best bowling figure by an Indian in T20 WC. pic.twitter.com/YH8CAtaCNh

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 18, 2023

Both England and India’s best batters – Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Smriti Mandhana – were dismissed the ball after they got their half-century.#T20WorldCup #INDvENG

— Aditya Chaturvedi (@aditya_c19) February 18, 2023

#cricket #T20WorldCup2023 #ENGvIND Natalie Sciver-Brunt is indeed Player of the Match - understandable, but rough on Renuka Singh Thakur who looked early on to have put the skids under England and might have settled it had she been bowled straight through rather than having...

— Thomas Sutcliffe (@aspitweets) February 18, 2023

After scoring her 11th Half-century for Natalie Sciver-Brunt is out by Deepti Sharma. She is out on 50(42) . What a brilliant catch by Smriti 💖🔥🥰#ENGvIND #T20WorldCup #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/5I85DkSW7x

— Asheesh (@Asheesh00007) February 18, 2023

Highest scores from no 6 or lower for England at #T20WorldCup

40 Amy Jones, TODAY
35 Sophia Dunkley v West India, 2018
29 @Anya_shrubsole v West Indies, 2018#INDvENG

— Mohit Shah (@mohit_shah17) February 18, 2023

#RichaGhosh it's a lose today but a big player in making it by playing valuable innings the Women's's T20 World Cup so far:

31*(20) vs Pakistan.
44*(32) vs West Indies.
47*(34) vs England#indvseng #T20WorldCup #WIPL #Cricket #CricketTwitter

— CricketFace (@ipl62013) February 18, 2023

Richa Ghosh scored 47*(34) again today. She is the best batter for us in all matches. Everytime she steps on the field she has given her everything. But she can't win all matches alone. What a good opportunity waste by Indian batting.#indvseng pic.twitter.com/0kJsZtXSC4

— 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐛 (@ShakibSarafat) February 18, 2023

England triumph over India to stay top of Group 2 🙌

📝: https://t.co/pDKqgYl4hJ#ENGvIND | #T20WorldCup | #TurnItUp pic.twitter.com/lAjchJutwn

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 18, 2023

Smriti brings up her 2⃣1⃣st T20I half-century. Need some more, skip! 🙌#PlayBold #TeamIndia #ENGvIND #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Mly6Q4nBiD

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 18, 2023

From 29/3 to victory by 11 runs.

A victory to be so proud of in Gqeberha 💪

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/NZlUecUFFh

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 18, 2023