Nat Sciver-Brunt singles out lax fielding in third ODI defeat to India as England lose series - 'Surprised the ball is coming'
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Published 22/07/2025 at 22:28 GMT+1
England fell agonisingly short of a historic run chase in their third ODI against India, with the visitors recording a 2-1 series win after posting 318-5. After being bowled out 13 runs short of the highest chase in the history of women's ODI cricket, England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt accused her team-mates of being "surprised that the ball was coming to them" in a lax first innings.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt was left frustrated with the quality of her side's fielding as India sealed an ODI series win 2-1 with a 13-run victory on Tuesday.
England were bowled out for 305, falling just short of the highest chase in the history of women's ODI cricket, with India posting 318-5 at the Riverside Ground.
Sciver-Brunt led admirably with the bat, caught two runs short of a century, something her opposite number, Harmanpreet Kaur, achieved with a sumptuous 102.
And while Kranti Goud was in inspired form in attack - taking 6-52 - Sciver-Brunt rued England's efforts in the field during the first innings.
"From the first innings, we let a few too many through in the field," admitted Sciver-Brunt. "We weren't as disciplined as we could've been with the areas we bowled and let them get too many.
"We do work very hard on it. The engagement that we have and the effort in training is excellent, so translating that into a game is where we are missing a little bit. Some people maybe seem surprised that the ball is coming to them.
"But in training we are absolutely flying around and obviously when you know you need to perform the skill under pressure, it becomes more difficult. We will continue to work on it.
"There are some people in the field who will be driving that. There's energy in the field that is driven by senior members of the side. It's something we want to work on, it just hasn't quite happened for us yet."
But though Sciver-Brunt acknowledged her side need to go back to the drawing board when it comes to their fielding, the skipper was pleased with England's chase against "world class" India.
"Firstly on the chase, we did really well to keep ourselves in the game that long. We were pretty happy with how we were tracking throughout the innings but then the wickets at the back end really cost us," said Sciver-Brunt.
"They are a world-class side and will take some beating, especially in their own conditions. It's put a marker for where we need to be.
"Their fielding has been brilliant at times and when ours hasn't been on point, they've shown how much of a difference it can make."
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Sciver-Brunt also suggested that England may have to rethink the balance of their side, as she continues to be unavailable in attack as she recovers from a persistent Achilles issue.
She said: "We don't have the luxury of loads of all-rounders and with me not bowling, it takes up a batting slot.
"The balance of the side is an ongoing conversation that we have quite a lot and will have to become pitch-dependent [for the World Cup]. But the plan is for me to be bowling by then so that will give us a sixth bowler in that role.
"We are trying different things and we will learn a lot from this. Using only five bowlers gives everyone a challenge of bowling at different stages of the game and I am happy that we've been able to see that here and learn from it."
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