Knight stars in England victory

England Women 153 for 3 (Edwards 57, Knight 53) beat India Women 193 for 8 (Mandhana 74, Knight 3-28) by 42 runs (D/L method)
Scorecard

England bounced back from their Test defeat to India with a comprehensive 42-run victory on the Duckworth-Lewis method, in the first match of the Royal London one-day series at Scarborough, which also marked the opening outing in the new Women's Championship for both teams.

Captain Charlotte Edwards and newly appointed vice-captain Heather Knight, who earlier took 3 for 28, added 110 for the first wicket to ensure England were always ahead of the rate in the chase which had been reduced to 184 in 42 overs, but was eventually curtailed after 30.1.

It appeared they would be chasing a tougher target when India reached 154 for 4 in the 40th over with Smriti Mandhana anchoring the display with 74. But they lost their way with a brace of run outs and Knight picked up three wickets with her developing offspin.

It was a cold day and players from both sides were huddled under blankets watching the action while some made use of hot water bottles during breaks in play. India did not appear to embrace the conditions in the field and England made a flying start to the chase, reaching 44 without loss after five overs when a brief shower halted play.

On the resumption the momentum did not slow much as both Edwards and Knight timed the ball beautifully. Edwards brought up her fifty from 56 deliveries before chopping Ekta Bisht into her stumps and Knight also departed shortly after reaching her half-century, but England were never knocked off course even though Lauren Winfield fell to Jhulan Goswami. They were well ahead when a final break for rain ended the contest.

India were soon on the back foot at 13 for 2 after being put into bat as Anya Shrubsole produced a testing opening spell. But the innings was settled by Mandhana and Mithali Raj as they added 64 for the third wicket. The stand was broken courtesy of an excellent catch by Sarah Taylor and when Knight claimed her first wicket - Harmanpreet Kaur sweeping to short fine-leg - England were back in control.

However, Mandhana and Vellaswamy Vanitha batted positively, taking advantage of an expensive second spell from Shrubsole, to give India a decent platform for a late charge in an innings cut to 47 overs, only for things to fall apart when Mandhana was smartly run out by Jenny Gunn who managed to collect a wayward return from the deep and then hit the non-striker's stumps. Shikha Pandey played an enterprising hand but the final seven overs brought just 39 runs.