Indore, Oct 19 (NationPress) In her milestone 300th international appearance, Heather Knight's impressive 109 guided England's innings. However, Deepti Sharma's sharp four-wicket performance turned the tide, allowing India to limit the visitors to 288/8 in their pivotal 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup encounter at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.

Amy Jones set a solid base with a brisk 56 at the start, but it was Heather's innings that provided the much-needed momentum. Her fourth ODI century, decorated with 15 fours and a six, exhibited a perfect mix of precision and aggression.

Her diverse sweep shots, especially aimed at the shorter square boundary, proved to be a tactical brilliance—amassing 36 runs from that alone, leaving India’s spinners in a quandary. Her strike rate of 257.14 while sweeping highlighted her control and determination.

She partnered with Nat Sciver-Brunt for a significant 113-run partnership, propelling England towards a total that seemed to exceed 300 as India found themselves under pressure. However, Heather's run-out with just five overs to go sparked a collapse, with England losing their last five wickets for a mere 42 runs.

Deepti Sharma emerged as the star bowler for India, claiming figures of 4-51, spearheading a disciplined effort in the death overs that allowed the hosts to stage a comeback and set the stage for an exciting chase on a dry red-soil pitch.

Opting to bat first, Renuka Singh Thakur produced a significant inswinger and appealed for a caught-behind off Tammy Beaumont. However, replays revealed a no-ball, allowing Tammy to capitalize on the free hit with a boundary.

With Kranti Gaud's inconsistent lengths, Amy hit three quick boundaries, while Tammy also contributed with a boundary, helping England escape the power-play unscathed at 44/0.

The momentum remained with England as Amy struck two boundaries while on the back foot against N Shree Charani, despite India missing an lbw review against Tammy off Kranti. The missed review didn’t prove costly when Deepti bowled Tammy with a fuller delivery, breaking the 73-run opening partnership.

Amy reached her first World Cup half-century by sending Renuka’s delivery over the long-on boundary. Unfortunately, she was dismissed after misjudging the pitch of the ball, lofting it straight to short mid-on off Deepti. Despite some pressure from Indian bowlers, Heather and Nat, who both struck boundaries off Deepti and Amanjot Kaur, took their time before accelerating.

England witnessed a change in tempo, with Heather executing sweeps and slog-sweeps effortlessly off Charani and Sneh Rana. Heather completed her half-century in just 54 balls with a reverse sweep for four.

After hitting Amanjot for another boundary, Heather continued to utilize the sweep and reverse sweep effectively against Sneh, Charani, and Deepti, applying serious pressure on India. This pressure led to India’s eighth unsuccessful review of the tournament when attempting to appeal against Nat, even though they knew Deepti’s delivery was going down leg.

India finally caught a break when Nat drove Charani through extra cover, only to be caught by Harmanpreet.

Heather got a reprieve on 91 when Deepti dropped a catch at short backward square leg off Renuka and capitalized by sending a ball through the off-side for four. Although she was nearly caught out by Charani, Heather's edge evaded all and brought up her century off 86 balls, before cutting the spinner for another boundary.

Eventually, Heather was run out in the 45th over, failing to ground her bat in time as Amanjot made a direct hit. From that point, India began to fight back—Charani triggered England’s downfall by having Sophia Dunkley caught at long-off.

Deepti dismissed Alice Capsey with a reverse sweep to point and saw Emma Lamb loft a catch to long-on. Despite Sophie Ecclestone being run out in the final over, England managed to surpass the 280-run mark, challenging India’s batting line-up, which was without Jemimah Rodrigues, to chase.

Brief Scores: England 288/8 in 50 overs (Heather Knight 109, Amy Jones 56; Deepti Sharma 4-51, Shree Charani 2-68) against India.