India opened their England tour with a seven-wicket win over the ECB Development XI in Chelmsford on Monday, May 25, 2026, making short work of the first of two warm-up games before their three-match T20I tour begins later in May. The chase was completed with three overs to spare, after the visitors absorbed an early wobble and then took control through a brisk stand from Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia.
The match had started with the home side in trouble almost from the outset. ECB’s Development XI were reduced to 16/3 in the third over, and Arundhati Reddy did most of the damage in one spell by taking two wickets in her first over, removing Tilly Kesteven and Bethan Gammon off consecutive deliveries. Ariana Dowse and Florence Miller steadied the innings with 52 runs off the next 49 balls, but Miller fell two runs short of a fifty. Joanne Gardner and captain Sophia Smale then pushed the total to 154/6, giving the bowlers something to defend.
India’s reply began at pace. Smriti Mandhana struck 15 runs in the first over before slicing a full toss from Clara Thaker to Liberty Heap. That only opened the door for the next partnership. Shafali and Bhatia added 77 runs off 42 balls, with Shafali reaching a 25-ball half-century before retiring out. Bhatia fell just short of a fifty, but the chase had already been shaped by the opening burst and the tempo set through the middle overs. Bharti Fulmali, batting at number 4 in Harmanpreet Kaur’s absence, then helped see the side home alongside Reddy.
The fixture was part of India’s buildup to the Women’s T20 World Cup and their first outing in a preparation phase that also includes another warm-up game before the England T20I series. Harmanpreet was unavailable because the India skipper was in New Delhi receiving her Padma Shri from President Droupadi Murmu, leaving Fulmali to fill a higher-order role on a day when India still looked comfortably ahead of the curve.
For India, the result will matter less than the rhythm. The opening pair showed immediate intent, the middle order got time in the middle, and the attack found early wickets against a batting unit that was forced into recovery mode almost at once. Chelmsford was the kind of warm-up that can settle a side before a bigger tour: tidy, clear-eyed and, by the end, controlled.
