England levelled the women’s ODI series against India with an eight‑wicket, DLS‑method win in a rain‑shrunken second match at Lord’s on 19 July 2025. Persistent showers reduced the contest to 29 overs a side, and later cut a further five overs from England’s chase, leaving a revised target of 115. They finished 116 for two with three overs unused, Sophia Dunkley threading the winning boundary while Amy Jones anchored the reply with an unbeaten 46.
The day carried extra spice given lingering memories of Deepti Sharma’s 2022 run-out of Charlie Dean at the non-striker’s end on this ground. When Deepti arrived with India 72 for five the crowd buzzed, and she calmly compiled 30 not out. Dean, back in the XI, helped check India’s progress by holding catches to remove Smriti Mandhana for 42 and earlier Jemimah Rodrigues, while Sophie Ecclestone’s 3 for 27 proved decisive in keeping India to 143 for eight on a sluggish, rain-affected surface.
The chase produced its own flashpoint. In the fifth over Tammy Beaumont seemed to swing a boot near the ball as she turned back, prompting wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh to appeal for obstructing the field. After video review the third umpire ruled Beaumont had simply regained her ground and no dismissal resulted, to India’s frustration and wry jokes given Sharma was the bowler. Beaumont added only nine more before falling lbw to Sneh Rana attempting a reverse sweep.
Further needle surfaced when India burned a review on a caught‑behind appeal against Dunkley even though stump microphones picked up Ghosh suggesting there was no contact. England, led by Jones, kept focus and managed the shrinking target in measured fashion. The niggle followed a tempestuous opening ODI at Southampton in which Pratika Rawal was fined 10% of her match fee for barging Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Filer, adding back‑story to an already charged series.
Pre‑match promotion had already leaned into the rivalry: a playful trailer filmed at Lord’s riffed on the 2022 incident and featured absent England faces Heather Knight (injured), Danni Wyatt‑Hodge (not in the ODI squad) and Lauren Filer (rested for this game in favour of Em Arlott). The result squares the three‑match series at 1‑1 heading to the decider in Durham on Tuesday, 22 July 2025. Given recent history, few will bet against one more twist before the silverware is decided.
Scoreline: India 143 for 8; England 116 for 2 (target 115).
