Chester-le-Street, Sep 11 (IANS): Saturday was a night to remember for England leg-spinner Sarah Glenn, who produced her career-best figures of 4-23 at a damp pitch on the Riverside Ground in Durham to set the foundation for the hosts' nine-wicket win over India in the T20I series opener.
After the match ended, Sarah admitted that the conditions were difficult for her to grip the ball well and had to bowl on a stump-to-stump line to get the better of the Indian batters.
Her first three balls went for six runs, but Sarah bounced back to have Shafali Verma holing out in the deep before trapping Dayalan Hemalatha lbw.
She then castled captain Harmanpreet Kaur with a ball which kept really low and completed her four-fer when debutant batter Kiran Navgire slog-swept straight to fielder in the deep, applying brakes on India's scoring in middle overs.
"It was difficult to grip the ball to be honest, I had to take my time between balls to make sure I was clear with what I was doing and I was just looking to go stump to stump and I knew on that wicket despite length I knew if I was hitting the stumps I'd be in the game and I think that was the same for all our other bowlers," said Sarah, who was adjudged Player of the Match.
After India were restricted to 132/7, England chased down the target comfortably with Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt (24) putting on 60 for the opening wicket before young Alice Capsey continued her sparkling international form with a 20-ball 32 to see England home with seven overs to spare.
"Obviously I knew the conditions out there, but with our batters I knew if we just played our game we'd be fine and obviously they did that really well. Danni and Dunks (Sophia Dunkley) set it up really nicely and then Caps (Alice Capsey) came in to play her game freely, I thought they were brilliant," added Sarah.
Sarah signed off by acknowledging the role of premier left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who went wicketless in her four overs during the match, in her understanding of the game.
"I'm buzzing, I thought we did really well tonight as a unit both with the bat and ball and the crowd has been amazing as well. Ecclestone is crucial for our team. Despite being of similar age, I look up to her and take notes. I knew the conditions out there and if we'd play our game, we'd be fine."