Date:06/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/06/stories/2008090654572000.htm

Sport - Cricket

England wins

Taunton: Timid batting and fickle weather put paid to Indian women’s hope of staying afloat in the five-match ODI series as dominant England thumped them by eight wickets via Duckworth-Lewis method to take an unassailable 3-0 lead here on Thursday.

Put into bat, the stop-start match had India at 126 for two in 35.2 overs when heavens opened up again to drop early curtains on its innings.

Chasing a revised target of 99 from 21 overs, England lost just two wickets before romping home to ensure the series win.

Losing opener Karuna Jain (4) early in the innings meant the visitor did not get the start it expected and the first rain-interruption came when the match was into its sixth over.

With the target revised to 99 from 21 overs, England had a relatively easy job at hand and opener Sarah Taylor struck a brisk 24 off 17 balls to set it on course for a facile win.

The scores: India 126 for two in 35.2 overs (Mithali Raj 55 n.o., Amita Sharma 42) lost to England 99 for two in 16.4 overs (England won by D/L method). — PTI