They needed to, with their side 7 for 2 after Lauren Bell’s double-strike to remove Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma in the first over of the match. They needed to with no Harmanpreet Kaur in the line-up as she was rested for the first of three games which will close India’s competitive preparations for next month’s T20 World Cup.

Rodrigues’ fluent innings we have come to expect. With Bhatia we didn’t know what to expect given her long absence after injuring her knee during a training camp and undergoing surgery last October which ruled her out of the 50-over World Cup and this year’s WPL. In 2024, she was part of India’s T20 World Cup squad but didn’t play a game then picked up a wrist injury at the WBBL.

“It felt really special and I’m very grateful,” Bhatia said of her innings on Thursday. “I’ve been coming back after a long time and the team has welcomed me very nicely and it has been very good to be back.

“In the injury time, it’s not easy, but there were people backing me. I’m very grateful to all of the people who were behind me at that time and behind the scenes, a lot of work has gone on to come back again into the team.

“Those who undergo ACL surgery, the whole muscle of that leg goes away. We have to build everything from scratch. So after the surgery, it was pretty tough to just go through the rehab process and there were days where nothing was happening, no progress was basically seen.

“But because of the support, I just kept on going, kept showing up, then after months I could see the improvement. Jemi and all the team were in touch with me… staff, team management, and so I’m very grateful for all their support. All is well that ends well.”

India were 73 for 2 after the powerplay and looked to be on track for a massive score thanks to Rodrigues and Bhatia. But once they both fell in the 14th over – Bhatia run out taking a risky single and Rodrigues caught and bowled by Charlie Dean – England managed to contain the target quite well as only Deepti Sharma reached double figures thereafter.

“Nandani, I think she bowled beautifully,” Bhatia said. “She came back well with her slower ones and that is her strength and she bowled beautifully to her strength and got those wickets, and in a debut game it’s exceptional.

“Nandani is a product of the WPL and she has done brilliantly, so it’s good to see that she’s come here and done so well. We all also felt emotional seeing her debut and when she got the cap, she was emotional, so it’s very good to see that she came out well today. It’s exciting times for Indian cricket that whoever is coming in in the XI is making their statement and making their contribution.”

India expect to have Harmanpreet back for the second match in Bristol on Saturday, a must-win game for England if they are to keep the series alive.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge will be available for selection to bolster the batting after a break to welcome her first child. Maia Bouchier, who is not part of the World Cup squad, made way for Jones to get some valuable time at the crease ahead of the tournament and she capitalised.

Dean, acting England captain while Nat Sciver-Brunt races to be fit from injury in time for the World Cup, said: “We wanted to give a bit of time to those girls who are going to bat for us in that middle top order in the World Cup.

“Not having a Nat in our batting line-up and in our team is a loss and just trying to work out where the other girls fit into that. They can all do the job at hand and that is something that we 100 percent believe, but it’s just making sure we give the right people those opportunities.”