Charlie Dean

India beat England in the final ODI at Lord's on Saturday by 16 runs but the match ended in controversial fashion after Deepti Sharma ran out Charlie Dean ...

Their success earlier in the summer against a crumbling South Africa did them little good in the Commonwealth Games (medal count: zero), while the loss against India is their first defeat in a bilateral series at home against an opposition other than Australia in 15 years. On the one hand, a move back to the “home of cricket” is long overdue – before , England had not played an international at Lord’s since the 2017 World Cup final. On the other hand, if the aim is to attract a generation of new fans, the pressure will be on to ensure that next summer’s Women’s Ashes is, at the very least, competitive. Cross returned in the 22nd over to remove a fluent-looking Smriti Mandhana (50), who edged a bouncer on to her own stumps. England will be back at Lord’s next summer as part of their jazzed-up multiformat Women’s Ashes series which, for the first time, includes matches at some of England’s marquee grounds (a Test at Trent Bridge, and evening T20s at Edgbaston, the Kia Oval and Lord’s). Her swan song initially looked as if it might end in anticlimax: she was bowled for a golden duck by Freya Kemp, before sending down five wicketless overs as the whole of Lord’s – England and India fans alike – willed her on.