Explosive Richa Ghosh finds form but India lose T20 World Cup final warm-up

Richa Ghosh almost did the impossible. Almost. In India’s last warm-up match before the 2026 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Richa Ghosh played a blinder which unfortunately was not enough for hosts England. | IND vs ENG, T20 World Cup warm-up card |

Needing 38 from the last two matches against England in Cardiff on Wednesday, India lost seven and the match was virtually conceded. Richa had other ideas. In the penultimate over, she smashed three fours and a six from Issy Wong to reduce the equation to 17. She swept Linsey Smith for four, then launched a big six over the bowler’s head to reduce it to six off three balls. Smith responded by tossing one outside the off stump – Richa went down the track, missed and Alice Capsey completed the off stump. Renuka Singh kicked the next ball. India were bowled out for 166, five runs short with one delivery to spare.

Richa finished with 68 off 36 balls. It wasn’t enough, but it was the kind of innings that India needed to see since entering the tournament.

“It’s about partnership and I think we missed that,” said captain Harmanpreet Kaur. “It was just Richa playing blindly. In T20 cricket, you need a couple of partnerships in the middle, which we lacked today – but it’s good to see Richa batting.”

The concerns around her were real. She managed just 18 runs in three innings in the T20I series against England last month, 85 in five innings against South Africa earlier this year and posted her lowest WPL tally in three seasons – 189 runs in nine matches. She was out for a duck against the West Indies in India’s first warm-up on 8 June. So Wednesday’s knock comes at exactly the right time. India will face Pakistan in the World Cup opener on Sunday.

However, the rest of the batting remains an issue. Smriti Mandhana fell for one – her highest score in seven innings since 82 against Australia in February was just 37. Shafali Verma made a brisk 13 off six balls before missing Wong. Harmanpreet (17), Yastika Bhatia (15) and Bharti Fulmali (18) all got starts and wasted them. At 132 for 7 in the 18th over, only Rich’s counter attack gave the chase any shape.

England were built on a 70-run stand between Amy Jones (64 off 45) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (57 off 45), after Harmanpreet opted to bowl. India’s best bowler was Shreyanka Patil who took 2 for 29 and dismissed both Sciver-Brunt and Charlie Dean in quick succession in the penultimate game. But Dani Gibson’s unbeaten 30 off 12 balls – including 19 from the final over before Renuka – took England to 171 for 6 and ultimately proved the difference. Gibson also removed Bhatia and Fulmali in the middle overs to finish with 2 for 17 and was named man of the match.

India will need more from their top order on Sunday. Richa did her part.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

10 Jun 2026 20:43 IST