MacDonald-Gay stars as England A seal 2-1 series win over India A

England A defeated India A in the T20 series decider, which Ryana MacDonald-Gay won with three wickets for 19 runs. Surrey fast bowler MacDonald-Gay is the Vitality Blast's leading wicket-taker, and had taken two scalps in each of the first two matches in the series, before headlining an exemplary bowling exhibition at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford.

MacDonald-Gay has 20 T20 wickets in nine outings this campaign, having recently recovered from a low level lumbar spine bone stress injury - which forced her to miss last year's Hundred and the first month of this season.

Having rolled India for 111, the batters finished off the job with 20 balls to spare and secured a come-from-behind series victory with a six-wicket win.

Each side had won one apiece in the first two clashes at Northampton, to set up an intriguing decider. Even though it didn't start out that way, England decided to bowl and backed it up with an almost flawless bowling and fielding performance. Alexis Stonehouse dropped Gunalan Kamalini in her first over, after a misunderstanding with MacDonald-Gay, but got her wicket in her second over, thanks to MacDonald-Gay's high-quality grab over her shoulder.

Spinner Sophia Smale found Dinesha Vrinda and hit a catch for deep midwicket after tight overs from Stonehouse, MacDonald-Gay, and Grace Potts. England took the lead by keeping the visitors to 21 for 2 in the powerplay. They had only increased that to 42 at the halfway point, when Anushka Sharma scored from midfield to exacerbate their problems.

The visitors rarely strayed from the lines. As the batters struggled to time anything on a stoppy pitch, Shweta Sehrawat carved Stonehouse to point and Niki Prasad chipped to mid-off. Minnu Mani and Uma Chetry finally managed to put a meaningful partnership together - putting on 34 for the sixth - but MacDonald-Gay stifled that momentum.

After catching Mani at midfield, keeper Kira Chathli made a stunning one-glove catch on the following ball. The following hat trick ball barely missed the off stump. India were bowled out for 111 with Smale's caught, bowled, and run-out in the final over, topping an outstanding effort.

Ella McCaughan, who had scored centuries on her previous two visits to the field with Hampshire, learned from India's mistakes and swept behind squarely. However, it was a straight shot that really caught the eye. However, England's pursuit lacked panache and was largely gritty.

Grace Scrivens was stumped, Chathli run out, and McCaughan bowled, but as runs constantly flowed, there was no drama. Jodi Grewcock was 29 not out on her home county ground when Bess Heath struck the winning runs to complete the professional thrashing.

The two teams now focus on 50-over cricket, with a three-match series starting on Sunday at Hove and ending on July 1 and 4 at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.