Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the third and final ODI between England and India in Taunton. This is Lavanya Lakshmi Narayanan and I'll be taking you through proceedings for the day with some help from my colleague Ayan Acharya .
What a day of cricket. India's bowling attack did well to contain England to 219 in the designated 47 overs. Needing 220 to win, Shafali and Smriti got off to a good start but hit a roadblock when India lost a bunch of wickets and had a controversial review episode with Harman's dismissal. Sneh Rana and Jhulan Goswami stuck with Mithali Raj, who scored another half century and became the highest run scorer in women's international cricket, who saw the side through to its first win in the England tour so far.
It's been a great experience bringing these games to you. Please stick around for the T20 series that begins on July 9.
England leads India 6-4 in the multiformat points system. This win allows India to stand a chance to level the series with England or even win, should it manage to do well in the T20 leg.
This is Lavanya and Ayan signing off! Take care, mask up, stay safe!
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India 220/6 (46.3 over): Mithali and Jhulan started handling this in singles but Mithali hauls this over-pitched delivery towards point.
INDIA HAS WON BY FOUR WICKETS WITH THREE BALLS TO SPARE.
Slightly over-pitched just oustide off, she pierces the off side, in front of point and there it is! India have won! Four wickets the margin, three balls to remaining, what a thriller!.
SIX NEEDED OFF SIX
India 214/6 (46 overs): After negotiating singles, Sneh Rana thumps one off over deep midwicket. One bounce. FOUR! That matters so much to the Indian cause. However, she tries to go aggressive again and completely misses while trying to sweep and Ecclestone shatters her leg stump. WICKET Sneh Rana b Ecclestone 24 (22b 3x4)
India 206/5 (45 overs):
Six runs come off this Brunt over.
14 runs needed off 12 balls. Despite trying to make space for themselves, they've had to deal in singles here.
20 needed off 18
India 200/5 (44 overs):
Mithali wants to get this done and sends the slower cutter down extra cover for four. Two balls later, Sneh Rana gives her captain some support. She creates space and gets this shot past the bowler and goes straight to the boundary. 12 runs come in this over. Good over for India.
India 188/5 (43 overs): Six runs off this image and one of these deliveries would have created so much trouble for her. A fuller delivery seemed to flick off along leg. There's an edge and it misses the stumps, the keeper and goes down to third man. No boundary but she's lucky to be safe here.
38 NEEDED OFF 30
India 182/5 (42 overs): Eight runs come off this over and this last ball sweep for four got my heart in my mouth! She is lucky to get this across without any damage giving that it was in the air and in the direction of Sarah Glenn for a while.
India 174/5 (41 overs):
Cross comes in and now Mithali Raj pulls her to deep midwicket for a four.
She reaches her half century. Consistency, thy name is Mithali Raj
. Her third fifty in this series. Nine runs from this over for India.
Rana is in now. She has her work cut out for her.
India 165/5 (40 overs):
Nat Sciver comes in and deploys a slightly slower ball. Looks like an offcutter. The ball pops upwards and there's a leading edge with barely any distance and it goes safely back into Sciver's hands. So simple for Sciver. Just the three runs and the 1 wicket.
WICKET Deepti Sharma c & b Sciver 18 (25b 1x4)
India 162/4 (39 overs):
Why has India has made this so hard for themselves? Deepti pitches in getting down on her knee to dispatch this full length delivery from Cross to midwicket for a four.
59 runs needed in 48 balls.
India 155/4 (38 overs): Four runs from this over Glenn.
India 150/4 (37 overs): Nine runs from this over , starting with a boundary down fine leg from Mithali Raj. Sharma and Raj have rotated the strike throughout this over. Brunt and Deepti seem to have exchanged words while slightly bumping into each other too. Intense players, high pressure situation.
India 141/1 (36 overs): Six runs off this over from Glenn. Largely uneventful as Deepti Sharma tries to settle in as soon as possible.
A visibly ticked Harman can be seen here. Is she discussing her dismissal? Is she discussing the review not taken?
India 133/4 (35 overs): Brunt is back and three runs is all they get from this over.
India 131/4 (34 overs): Knight removes Harmanpreet here, right after the pair bring up their fifty-run stand. Knight gets one on her pads and Harman is caught in an awkward place trying to sweep this in some way. She has not taken the review though. That's shocking! She's looked towards Mithali and just started the long walk back to the pavilion. Replay shows impact outside the line of off stump. This could have gone Harman's way but that she just gave up and proceeded out tells us all we need to know about Harman's confidence. Hope she gets some time to work this out behind the scenes. WICKET Harmanpreet Kaur lbw b Knight 16 (38b)
India 130/3 (33 overs): A
very quiet over here from Ecclestone. Just 2 runs from this over. I am getting second-hand anxiety thinking about how close this is inevitably going to get.
India 128/3 (32 overs):
Another quiet over - three runs from Knight. This is becoming a template for me to type.
India 120/4 (31 overs): Ecclestone comes in, keeping Kaur quiet. But Mithali has other plans. Good footwork from the India skipper here to clear mid on for four runs ! Five runs from this over.
India 120/3 (30 overs): Three runs from this over by Knight. Run a ball ask here.
India 117/3 (29 overs):
Five runs off the over, from Glenn. Given Mithali started off strongly against Glenn, she'll settled back into a defensive role. Is India not going about the 'saving one's wicket' strategy properly?
India 112/3 (28 overs): Heather Knight has given off seven runs here with Mithali and Harman dealing in ones and twos. More of this please.
India 105/3 (27 overs): Another low scoring over. Just three runs. Ayan says this chase will get unnecessarily close. He's right. Why accumulate the tasklist for the end?
India 101/3 (26 overs):
Six runs from the Sciver over, with Harman and Mithali negotiating in singles. I wonder what Harman's demons are, what is she struggling with? Is it a technique thing, a confidence thing or a mental block? The team's hundred comes up. 120 runs to go.
India 95/3 (25 overs):
Two runs off this Glenn over. This pair needs to rotate the strike better than what they are here.
India 93/3 (24 overs):
Mithali duplicates that shot from the previous innings, but stronger this time! She goes down the ground with a fair bit of height for four. With this
she has become the highest runscorer in women's international cricket. Five runs off the over.
India 88/3 (23 overs): Mithali seems to be addressing some of that SR criticism and seems to find Glenn an easy target. She begins with a lovely smack over the bowler's head for four. Here's a part of a conversation from one of the Clubhouse watchalongs I am dipping into -
A: Let's see when her next boundary comes now
B: Let's wait and see when her next single comes first, given strike rotation issues
India 83/3 (22 overs): Sciver coming into Kaur and Raj. The duo will negotiate safely in singles. These two need to rotate strike. England did that when the boundaries were not coming. They can't afford dot ball numbers going above the 100-ball mark. Two runs come off this over.
India 81/3 (21 overs): Sarah Glenn comes in and finishes her over with the prized wicket of Smriti Mandhana. Glenn sends in a fuller delivery and Mandhana tries to negotiate its direction but it strikes the pad straight up. Plumb. She falls short of her 11th consecutive half century in chases.
WICKET Smriti Mandhana lbw b Glenn 49 (57b 8x4)
India 79/2 (20 overs):
Ecclestone draws out a maiden
India 79/2 (19 over): Mandhana is in fine touch here. She punches Cross down midwicket for four with seven runs coming in total from this over.
India 72/2 (18 overs): Ecclestone goes through a sedate over with just one run given.
India 71/2 (17 overs):
Mithali Raj is off the mark with a sublime boundary rolling down fine leg. Just give funs come off the over.
Mithali and Smriti at the crease right now. This duo needs to work together to at least get India past 150-170 at a good pace.
India 66/2 (16 overs): Another lifeline for Jemimah as another LBW is brushed aside. England believed this has hit Jemimah on the pad and the umpire has said no. England reviews. The ball is clipping the bail between middle and leg stump. Umpires call says third umpire and she survives. But Ecclestone gets to work in the very next ball. Full length ball and she gets down to negotiate it a little square on the onside but it gets a thick inside edge and hits the stumps. Look at that swing.
WICKET Jemimah Rodrigues b Ecclestone 4 (21b)
India 65/1 (15 overs): Cross gets a quiet over. Just three runs conceded.
India 62/1 (14 overs): Ecclestone comes back. Mandhana manages a glorious cover drive but restricts the Indian batters to just three runs besides that boundary. A little more than she would have wanted to give off here, Ecclestone.
India 55/1 (13 overs): Is Jemimah in trouble here? A full length delivery moving in seems to hid her on the pads and she gets her line wrong while landing the bat. Umpire says out. Jemimah reviews. Replays find bat involvment. She survives. Cross is cross (sorry, I couldn't resist). Just the two runs from the over for India.
India 53/1 (12 overs):
Oh boundary off the first ball, Mandhana. What a way to herald Ecclestone back into the middle! She's sent this over the bowler's head too. Six runs come off the innings in total as the Indian score moves into the fifties.
India 47/1 (11 overs): Cross comes back and gives away just the one run. Under pressure here India. Onus on Smriti Mandhana to keep the scoring going. Given she enjoys chases better, is a big innings loading for the left hander?
India 46/1 (10 overs): Jemimah Rodrigues comes in as does Sophie Ecclestone. Her first over is a maiden.
India 46/1 (9 overs): Shafali seems prepared for shorter deliveries, but Cross is not moving away from good length balls. She even manages to get one over point for four. But another game, the same kind of aerial shot deployed by Shafali with sadly little distance. Heather Knight is standing at cover and takes the easiest of catches. Shafali Verma, who was smiling and enjoying her cricket until a few minutes ago, walks back disappointed at herself.
WICKET Shafali Verma c Knight b Cross 19 (29b 3x4)
First bowling change for England. Kate Cross comes into the attack. She got a fifer in the previous ODI. Can she come to England's aid this time too? Read more about what this means to Cross:
India 43/0 (8 overs):
Shrubsole is greeted with a boundary here by Mandhana. Another gorgeous cover drive. She gets another one past third man. Eight runs come off the over for India. Good intent by Mandhana.
India 34/0 (7 overs):
Shafali is itching to get the ball to the boundary rope and is pulling all over the place here. Brunt counters with an array of short and overpitched balls seeing if she can draw out an error. The result - a boundary over mid-on. Pure power.
India 28/0 (6 overs):
Shrubsole is managing to find pace variations early on. Just three runs off this over. Amy Jones is now standing up.
India 25/0 (5 overs):
Katherine Brunt returns and Mandhana is in the mood to free her arms a bit. She first dispatches a good length delivery to the square leg boundary. Two deliveries after, Mandhana drives a full length delivery going outside off through the covers. Glorious cover drive this. She is a delight to watch, but she's not done just yet. Another full length ball is dispatched past short third man. How Mandhana has converted a slow start to this has been beautiful to watch.
India 12/0 (4 overs):
Shrubsole bowls a nice tight line here, with two wides just taking the sheen off the over. Just four runs come off the over.
India 8/0 (3 overs):
Brunt continues from the other end. Another tidy over from Brunt, just one run off it in the end. Indian openers need to guard against dropping into a shell in the Powerplay.
India 7/0 (2 overs): Anya Shrubsole will share the new ball. Mandhana is off the mark with a single. Verma carves the last ball through deep extra cover for four. Six off it.
India 1/0 (1 over): Shafali Verma and Mandhana will start the run chase. Brunt with the new ball. Excellent over first up. Just a single off the last ball.
Welcome back for the run chase.
INNINGS SUMMARY: England looked in control for about 30 overs of the innings but then Deepti Sharma happened. The host has been bundled out for 219 runs in the readjusted 47-over innings. Quite a few batters got promising starts but could not convert their scores to something solid enough to carry the English innings along. That the side, which has dominated Indian bowlers all through the series so far, couldn't manage to find a boundary for about 13 overs is telling of India's efficacy today. India was sharp in the field too, with Smriti Mandhana's diving catch to dismiss Nat Sciver a highlight. Deepti Sharma made the most of the slow wicket here in Worcester and finished with three wickets. India needs 220 to win. Despite losing the ODI series, the two points could help give India a chance to draw the multiformat series on points.
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219 all out (47 overs): It's Kate Cross and Sarah Glenn who need to see this last over through. Cross is not going down without a fight and gets a boundary and a six in (one over the bowler's head and the other over the long off fence). India gets the all out too, running out Sarah Glenn on the very last ball.
One over remains. Deepti Sharma will finish
206/9 (46 overs):
Goswami in. England gets past 200. Given that we were discussing 250+ targets for this side, India has truly silenced this lineup. Interesting to see how India will negotiate a slow wicket like this. Glenn manages a boundary off the last ball, going over extra cover for a boundary/.
196/9 (45 overs) : A lovely reverse sweep gives Dunkley a boundary but right after Deepti Sharma finds a way to unsettle her stumps. Dunkley has no space to maneuver this one and the ball goes straight through her leg stump. Deepti is not done though. Shrubsole goes back right after she steps in. She sends the ball straight back to Sharma who throws the ball to the stumps at the non-striker's end. Lovely from India. England well and truly in trouble trying to just get to the 200 mark. WICKET Sophia Dunkley b Sharma 28 (35b 1x4) ;Anya Shrubsole run out (Sharma) 1 (1b)
192/7 (44 overs): GOSWAMI REMOVES ECCLESTONE. Hits her right on the toes here. Clear impact on that front pad. Umpire's finger goes up. Ecclestone reviews. No bat and impact seems to be halfway through the leg stump. Umpire's call undoes any hope she has to stay. England loses a review. WICKET Sophie Ecclestone lbw b Goswami 9 (11b 1x4)
Four overs left. Goswami returns.
190/6 (43 overs): And the one to break the boundary drought is Sophie Ecclestone, celebrating her fifth year in international cricket today. She's thrashed this down midwicket and there's instant relief on her face.
The last boundary for the English batters came in the 27th over. For the first time in this series. The English seem to have gotten a little impatience. Getting to the boundary, trying to free their arms has cost them their wickets.
182/6 (42 overs): Five runs off this sedate over from Rana.
India's spinners have done very well here today. The slower balls have worked their magic.
177/6 (41 overs) : Quiet over from Poonam with five runs and a wicket bonus. Brunt is undone here. Lovely googly here. Brunt comes forward, but is beaten on the inside edge completely and is caught short of her crease. Taniya Bhatia doesn't mess these chances up. Gone! Poonam Yadav is ecstatic. She joins the wicket-takers. WICKET Katherine Brunt st †Bhatia b Poonam Yadav 6 (9b)
172/5 (40 overs): Sneh Rana returns. Can she send Dunkley back and strengthen India's hold on this session? She gives away just four runs. Good bowling performance this from India.
168/5 (39 overs): Quiet over. Just the four runs from Poonam Yadav.
What can the Brunt-Dunkley combo do today?
164/5 (38 overs): WHAT A CATCH. SMRITI MANDHANA! Sharma sends a fuller delivery and Sciver comes down the track to send this to deep midwicket. A diving Smriti Mandhana completes a stunning catch to send her out. HALF CENTURY DENIED. Sciver is not impressed. Just two runs and a big scalp coming in this over. Good game for Sharma.
WICKET Nat Sciver c Mandhana b Sharma 49 (59b 5x4)
162/4 (37 overs):
Tight over from Shikha Pandey. Very encouraging to see how she has tightened the purse here. Nat Sciver on the cusp on a brilliant half century.
Ayan on Nat Sciver: Sciver is such a busy player, great asset and always scoring at almost run-a-ball. India needs a batter like her in the top-order.
159/4 (36 overs): Simple cricket here. They're trying to see a few balls through relying just on rotating the strike here. Five runs come off it. 11 over remain. When does England step on the gas? Will England step on the gas?
154/4 (35 overs): Uneventful over here and Dunkley tries and settles down. The final ball has a very long shot at a caught and bowled. Shikha Pandey just about gets a touch on that ball. Would have been great if this had worked out for India.
This brings
Sophia Dunkley in.
151/4 (34 overs): Just when this partnership was going well for England, Deepti Sharma comes in to spoil the party. She sends in a slower delivery and Jones comes down the track to try and send this to the boundary but the positioning is all wonky. Radha Yadav, the substitute fielder, comfortably gets this in the deep. Weird shot selection and penalised for it too. WICKET Amy Jones c sub (RP Yadav) b Sharma 17 (26b 1x4)
Good time to remember that this side has 47 overs not 50. So time to accelerate any time now.
146/3 (33 overs):
Four runs from this over given away by Pandey. After a few expensive overs, she has reigned it in in terms of her economy rate.
142/3 (32 overs): Sharma is stingy in this over, giving away just two runs. Time for England to accelerate.
140/3 (31 overs): Poonam concedes six runs in the over and the teams break for drinks.
England is doing all right but needs to find that odd boundary here and there to give this score a push. Anything above 270 will make the chase a tad harder for the Indians.
134/3 (30 overs): Goswami keeps things tidy here, switching between good length and the odd full length ball. Three runs come off the over.
131/3 (29 overs): Poonam manages to keep Jones and Sciver quiet, just singles come in this over, amounting to four runs.
127/3 (28 overs): Jhulan returns for a second spell and is very economical. Gives off just the two runs.
125/3 (27 overs): Expensive over from Harmanpreet. Amy Jones gets into the groove here. The fuller deliveries are being punished here by the English. This one is wider and Jones cuts through point for four. Sciver finishes off the four with boundary. Another fuller delivery, flicked off the pads, wristy from Sciver and it pierces square leg.
115/3 (26 overs): Onus on Sciver now to take England through the next ten overs. She starts off early in the boundary. Rana sends in a fuller delivery and Sciver goes on the backfoot to send this down mid-off. Just a run more from this over.
110/3 (25 overs): Interesting over here from Indian vice captain. Shafali Verma misfields this and the ball runs off to the rope. But she's not going to mind too much as she gets the England skipper. Knight hits Kaur across the line and gets a fair bit of height here. Shikha Pandey gets under it at midwicket. Five runs and this wicket from this over. WICKET Heather Knight c Pandey b Kaur 46 (71b 4x4)
105/2 (24 overs): Two runs come off this over from Rana. She has been economical
103/2 (23 overs): Harman proves a tad expensive. Nine runs off the over including a boundary off Knight's bat through backward point to bring up England's 100.
Harmanpreet Kaur comes into the attack.
94/2 (22 overs): Rana comes back and gives away five runs but more importantly, Heather Knight reaches the 3000-run milestone in ODIs. She is only the fourth English woman to do so.
89/2 (21 overs):
Pace returns and it's Pandey taking the ball. She's welcomed straight away with a boundary off Sciver's bat. Pandey has been resorting to the fuller deliveries and gets this one outside off. She punches this down mid-off. Eight runs come off the over.
81/2 (20 overs): Poonam Yadav continues. She rushes through the over. Just two off it in the end. She's getting speeds in the 50s range. Seriously slow here from her.
79/2 (19 overs): Nat Sciver joins Knight. Sciver's off and running with a brace and a boundary. Eight runs from that Rana over.
71/2 (18 overs): Frugal from Poonam Yadav, just the two runs from it.
69/2 (17 overs): Sneh Rana comes into the attack and she sends Winfield-Hill packing. Rana keeps tempting LWH to come out and sweep. She has but she lofts this to deep midwicket. Shikha Pandey is ready to take this and send LWH back to the pavilion. Just the two singles besides the wicket. Good over for India. WICKET Lauren Winfield-Hill c Pandey b Rana 36 (52b 5x4)
66/1 (16 overs): A muted Knight opens up. Time slows down as she pulls out a reverse sweep, sending this to the boundary in the process. Six runs come off the over for England.
Time for drinks. We'll grab some coffee too.
61/1 (15 overs):
England is keeping the runs coming, even if just in singles. Five runs off this over. A boundary here and there won't hurt.
56/1 (14 overs): Sharma isn't going so tame. She's trying to draw these batters out to play. Four runs come off her over.
52/1 ( 13 overs): Yadav bowls an uneventful over, but England brings up its team fifty. Just the four runs off this over.
48/1 (12 overs): Chance for India here. This Worcester wicket is slow and Winfield-Hill was deceived by the pace of it at all. She tries to cut a delivery from Sharma but ends up edging it close to slip. Sneh Rana gets a few fingers to it but it goes through. Stopped before any boundary damage.
Just three runs off this over. Lovely anticipation here from Rana. Her hands were out there ready, perhaps she wasn't ready for the height and the effort that would need.
45/1 (11 overs):
Spin for both ends for India. Poonam Yadav comes in from the other end. Just three runs from this over.
42/1 (10 overs):
Oh here's some drama right away. Sharma tosses one up enticing Knight to try and drive but she's edged that and it's fallen just beyond first slip. Boundary is thankfully saved. This was wide off the offstump. Could have cost India more. Just two runs off this over.
Powerplay done. Mithali calls on Deepti Sharma into the attack.
40/1 (9 overs): Goswami sends a fuller deliver on middle, moving a little towards leg. Knight makes a meal of it. FOUR RUNS! Five runs off the over.
Here's a nice stat that puts the history of this game and two of its oldest warhorses - Jhulan and Mithali - in perspective.
35/1 (8 overs): OH EXPENSIVE OVER. 12 runs coming off this over from Pandey for England all coming in boundaries and off the bat of Winfield-Hill. The first two are crisp square drives, identical and gorgeous between point and cover point and the third a nice drive past the non-striker for four.
23/1 (7 overs): Goswami keeps it tight again. Gives away just two runs. Nice powerplay this for India.
21/1 (6 overs): Just three runs off this Pandey over for England. The duo are happy to rebuild with singles now.
18/1 (5 overs): Just the two runs come off this Goswami over. India is controlling proceedings nicely here.
16/1 (4 overs): Pandey gifts LWH a nice full delivery well outside off. She manages to get some height to this, LWH and sends it over cover, one bounce for four. Oh right at the end of this over, we have a possible stumping. Winfield-Hill is a foot outside her crease her and misses the ball there. Bhatia connects and dislodges the bails. The decision goes upstairs and we see LWH bringing her foot back just in time. Bundle of nerves, but no damage done. Five runs off it.
11/1 (3 overs): Goswami sends in a fuller delivery angling to the offside. She's managed some swing here and LWH hasn't connected all that well, just enough to send this through midwicket for four. Turns out that's a no ball too. Free hit but nothing comes off it.
5/1 (2 overs): Pandey gives India an early breakthrough!
Good length, hits her on the front pad. Shikha is screaming. Winfield-Hill isn't giving Beaumont any confidence. She does not review an d walks. What a wicket. The dangerous Tammy Beaumont has been struck out early and for a duck no less! Skipper Knight takes her place and almost angrily hits the ball right after to the boundary for four. Cut between cover and point this one. Can LWH and HK resist here?
WICKET Tammy Beaumont lbw b Pandey 0 (4b)
1/0 (1 over): Just the one run given away by Goswami along with a soft lbw appeal early on. Goswami is getting some height here and that is what brushes this appeal aside.
Beaumont and Winfield-Hill begin for England. Goswami to start proceedings for India.
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5pm: Around 40-50% rain expected at certain points through the day. Let's see how it pans out. Live action in a minute!
Chases are Smriti Mandhana's comfort zone. Look at her last five innings chasing in ODIs: 105 90* 63 74 80* (latest)
INDIA XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mithali Raj(c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia(w), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Yadav
ENGLAND XI: Lauren Winfield Hill, Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight(c), Natalie Sciver, Amy Ellen Jones(w), Sophia Dunkley, Katherine Brunt, Sarah Glenn, Sophie Ecclestone, Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross
MILESTONE ALERT:
Heather Knight is just 37 runs away from 3000 ODI runs. She becomes the fourth English player to get there and 15th overall. Mithali Raj's big record will topple England's Charlotte Edwards from the all-time list summit. Hope she's commentating when it happens so we get a live reaction. Absolute legends of the game.
We have an update from the BCCI about the domestic cricket calendar this year: The domestic season will commence on September 21, 2021, with the Senior Women's One Day League and will be followed by the Senior Women's One Day Challenger Trophy, which will take place from October 27, 2021.
A special day for Sophie Ecclestone as she celebrates five years in international cricket. Sophie has had a good series so far with eight wickets in the Test match and three each in the ODIs. How much can she contribute today? Not to mention, absolute hair goals!
3:47pm: The sun is out in Worcester. The umpires will inspect the ground in 5 minutes.
SERIES UPDATE: India needs a win today to stay in the running for a series win (via points). As things stand, with the Test draw and two ODI wins, England leads the points table 6-2. If India lose, it can only attempt to level the series thereafter.
Update: Covers are still on at Worcester. An inspection is due at 3:45pm IST.
India has several questions to ask of itself when it gets into this ODI. How many more chances does Harman get? Should that opening combination be tweaked? How does India work on a slow strike rate especially from its middle order batters? Should it try out a different keeper? Much remains to be seen when the teams take to the field today. Before that, here's the match preview for this game.
An under-fire Indian women's team would be desperate to address vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur's prolonged lean patch as it seeks to stop a marauding England side from completing a 3-0 sweep in the final ODI here on Saturday.
Having lost six out of the last seven ODIs, the Mithali Raj-led side is finding it difficult to stem the rot as it faces the ignominy of another one-sided series defeat after being thrashed by the South African women on home soil.
While the bowlers did up their game in the second ODI with a much-improved performance, the batting has left the team down yet again with skipper Mithali left to do all the heavy lifting, which is also affecting her game.
One of the primary issues that has been overlooked over the past four years has been Harmanpreet's shoddy performance.
Harmanpreet, whose epic 171 against Australia in the 2017 World Cup, became a seminal moment for the women's game in the country, has since gone off the boil.
In 28 WODI matches (in which she didn't get to bat six times) since the 2017 World Cup final against England, the Indian vice-captain has scored only two fifties and two scores over 40, which has put the maximum pressure on the scoreboard.
With Mithali and the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Deepti Sharma and Taniya Bhatia not having the ability to play the power game, a lot of pressure is being built on openers Smriti Mandhana and teen sensation Shafali Verma.
For India, Mithali has scored back-to-back half centuries with her strike rate in the 60s but she had been left with no choice as in both games, the Indian batters have splurged on dot balls like millionaires.
It will be interesting to see if coach Ramesh Powar has a solution for Harmanpreet's lean patch and whether he feels that may be post this series, she would need to smell the coffee as the national team can ill afford a non-performer for years.
In the first game itself, 181 dots were consumed against a bowling attack that has Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Nat Sciver, Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone.
It has been relentless with its tight lines and it was Jhulan Goswami's cameo that helped India cross 220 in Taunton.
With wicketkeeper Bhatia not being the most reliable batter in the shorter format and Deepti unable to play the big shots towards the end, it might again depend on Mandhana and Shafali, who gave a half-century plus stand in the Test as well as the second WODI.
Indrani Roy, an exciting domestic talent, should have been tried out as an enforcer but Bhatia's better keeping skills has earned her the team's vote.
In the bowling department, both Goswami and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav were brilliant but the scoreboard pressure was always on India, who were at least 40 runs short on a good batting track.
With Tammy Beaumont and Sciver in good form, home team skipper Heather Knight would like to add insult to the injury as she is due for a big score against the Indian attack.
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Mithali Raj update: The India skipper is fit to take the field in the third ODI today. This will be her last game of the series as it move to T20Is right after. Mithali has the chance to make this one memorable. She's 12 runs away from being the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket.
The weather forecast does not look too encouraging. It's overcast and the BCCI Twitter handle shared images of light showers at the County Ground in Worcester. We will keep you posted about the weather as we find out.
Weather update:
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Series recap so far: India and England have played the one-off Test and two of out three ODIs ahead of today's game.
India fought after a follow-on to restrict England to a draw in the Test in Bristol. More:
England thrashed India by eight wickets in the first ODI in Bristol. More:
While India put up a fight, England still cruised to a five-wicket win in the second ODI, sealing the series. More:
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Reminder of how the points stand -
16 points up for grabs in total in this tournament
Where are the teams playing?
The third ODI will be played at New End Road,Worcester.
Where to watch - telecast and live streaming details
The 3rd ODI between India and England women in India will be telecast on Sony TEN 1 and available for live streaming on Sony Liv. Jio TV and Airtel XStream will also provide live streaming. Alternatively, you can catch over-by-over updates here on Sportstar.
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