England 168 for 5 (Kemp 39*, Shree Charani 3-25) beat India 142 for 9 (Yastika 33, Kemp 2-15, Dean 2-20, Bell 2-33) by 26 runs

The home side made a pedestrian start – they were 35 for 1 after the powerplay – and none of their batters were able to truly kick on, N Shree Charani’s left-arm spin causing them plenty of problems before Kemp’s unbeaten 39 off just 13 balls, striking at 300.00, lifted them to a respectable total of 168 for 5.

India fall short

Bell continued her run of early breakthroughs when she had Shafali Verma caught at cover in the third over of the run chase. England put down two chances, Sophie Ecclestone unable to grasp a low chance off Mandhana at mid-on three balls before Kemp had her caught by Alice Capsey in the deep, and Dean fumbled a catch off her own bowling when Yastika was on 29.

Just as Kemp was about to bowl her second over, Bhatia walked off and Rodrigues – with whom she had shared a match-winnning century stand at Chelmsford – strode to the crease. With India needing 60 off the last five overs, Kemp had Rodrigues caught at cover off the second ball she faced.

A double-wicket over from Dean removed Richa Ghosh and Harmanpreet Kaur, leaving India with 39 to get off 12 balls but the wickets kept tumbling.

Kemp lifts England

Kemp produced exactly the innings England needed with her side 116 for 4 in the 17th over. The left-hander was off the mark with a lovely cover drive for four off Shree Charani and, when Capsey was bowled trying to reverse-sweep Shreyanka Patil, Kemp and Dani Gibson set about raising a competitive total. They helped themselves to 14 runs off Nandani’s fourth over, the penultimate of the innings, but it was off the last that Kemp did the most damage.

She muscled Arundhati Reddy’s full toss for six over long-on first ball, pierced the leg side and hit down the ground for back-to-back fours then slammed a short ball outside off stump over the fence at long-on to give the England attack something to bowl at.

Shree Charani keeps England in check

Sophia Dunkley was yet to score when she was dropped at backward point by Rodrigues, which would have given Nandani Sharma a wicket with her first delivery after she was entrusted with the new ball following her three-wicket haul on debut in the opening game. Dunkley responded by hammering Arundhati for six over long on in the next over but she fell a short time later when Nandani changed ends and had her caught behind.

That brought Amy Jones back to reprise her No. 3 role but Shree Charani ensured there was to be no repeat of her half century. First though, Shree Charani set about breaking a promising partnership between Jones and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, back from maternity leave for her first game of the season. The pair had put on 36 runs off 25 balls when Wyatt-Hodge fell to a sharp catch from Mandhana at short third.

When Shree Charani removed Jones, gathered at cover in the lightning-quick hands of Harmanpreet, it fell to Capsey and Heather Knight to get the score moving, although the bowler had other ideas.

Knight’s woes continue

Knight made another start but again she couldn’t press on after a soft dismissal. She was England’s second-highest scorer behind Jones in the first game after struggling to hit the gaps with a laboured 21 off 24 then holing out off Shree Charani. On this occasion, after compiling a 14-ball 18, she danced down the pitch to the same bowler and spooned a simple return catch her way, the batter clearly furious with herself as she departed.

In T20Is this season, Knight has scores of 19, 25, 18, 21 and 18. As England’s most-capped Women’s player – she has played 311 games across formats – her side will be looking for more from her at the World Cup.