Toss England Women opt to bowl vs India Women
Shafali Verma and Sophia Dunkley were handed ODI debuts in Bristol as England decided to bowl first against India in the first of the three-match series that kicks off the limited-overs leg of multi-format assignment.
At 17 years and 150 days old, Verma became the fifth-youngest player across men's and women's cricket to represent their country in all formats of the game. She had made her Test debut at the same venue last week and struck 96 and 63 to help set up a hard-fought draw. The same match saw Dunkley become the first black woman to represent England in the longest format; she had made 74 not-out in her first dig.
India retained the same quick-bowling troika, comprising Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, and Shikha Pandey, they fielded in the standalone Test. Experienced left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht pipped offspin-bowling allrounder Sneh Rana, who returned a first-innings four-for and an unbeaten rearguard second-innings 80 in the Test, to the solitary frontline spinner's spot in the Indian line-up.
England had released Emily Arlott and Freya Davies from their ODI squad earlier in the week. They opted for the legspin of Sarah Glenn, with the pace-bowling contingent made up by Nat Sciver, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, and Anya Shrubsole.
The ODI marks England and India's first face-off in 50-over cricket in England since the 2017 World Cup final at Lord's where the hosts clinched the title.
A fresh pitch is being used in Bristol, with Heather Knight - who is playing her 50th ODI as captain - saying on match eve the surface had an even covering of grass.
England: 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Lauren Winfield-Hill, 3 Heather Knight (capt), 4 Sophia Dunkley, 5 Natalie Sciver (vc), 6 Amy Jones (wk), 7 Sophie Ecclestone, 8 Sarah Glenn, 9 Katherine Brunt, 10 Kate Cross, 11 Anya Shrubsole
India: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Punam Raut, 4 Mithali Raj (capt), 5 Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Taniya Bhatia (wk), 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Shikha Pandey, 10 Jhulan Goswami, 11 Ekta Bisht
Shafali Verma
Sophia Dunkley
India Women
England Women
India
England
IND Women vs ENG Women
India Women tour of England
Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ghosh_annesha
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