Danni Wyatt stars as England clinch series win over India

Danni Wyatt hit an unbeaten 64 to lead England to a five-wicket win over India on Thursday morning, as the tourists clinched the women's T20I series with one game still to play.

After being set 112 to win, Wyatt opened the batting alongside Tammy Beaumont and England were looking in confident mood, until they slipped from 45-1 to 56-4. 

But, while her teammates struggled, Wyatt played patiently and with composure to score her sixth T20I half-century and clinch Heather Knight's side an impressive victory in Assam.  

Knight won the toss and put India into bat, and her bowling attack - which included Wyatt's Sussex teammate, Linsey Smith - restricted the hosts brilliantly. 

India were hoping to bounce back from defeat in the opening match of the series, and started quickly, but when captain Smriti Mandhana was dismissed by Katherine Brunt, England never looked back. 

Smith claimed the wicket of Mandhana's fellow opener, Harleen Deol, before the left-arm spinner bowled Shikha Pandey as India's tail fell apart, with no batter scoring more than 20. 

Smith, playing in only her fourth international, was the most economical bowler on either side, finishing with figures of 2-11 from her three overs.

England then set about chasing their target, with Wyatt keeping her side steady throughout the innings. A brief flurry of wickets had India's hopes up, but Lauren Winfield, who hit 29 off 23 balls, did a great job in settling England's nerves alongside Wyatt.

Winfield couldn't see the job home, but Wyatt hit the winning runs to give England an unassailable 2-0 series lead, and finish on 64* off 55 balls.

"It's great to win the series." said Wyatt. "It says a lot about us given the result in the ODI series and we're really proud of how we've bounced back.

"It hasn't been easy at all but we've shown a lot of character and resilience and we continued that today. The bowlers were brilliant - Katherine Brunt again stood up, and Laura Marsh and Linsey Smith were great again.

"I'm proud to have taken the team to the win. I've been challenged to finish more games off for England so it's a great feeling to do that. It's right up there next to my innings in Mumbai.

"We need to continue putting in performances like this, starting off with the final T20 on Saturday and then throughout the Sri Lanka series."

Catch Danni, Linsey and the rest of the England Women team as they take on Australia in a Vitality T20I right here in Sussex. Tickets for the match at The 1st Central County Ground on Sunday 28th July go on sale on Friday 8th March.