9.50pm: Thanks for sticking around, sorry about the soggy finish. Annesha's report is in and we'll be back for more on Sunday, when the rest of England might just have their minds elsewhere. Still, Hove should be a decent support act. Until then, from Hemant, Ranjith and myself, it's cheerio for now!

9.38pm: Let's have some presentations, starting with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur: "We knew after 830pm there could be rain, so that's why we were batting according to DL, but we kept losing wickets. If there were two-three more overs, we felt we could make it. Losing wickets back to back, that was the reason. We fielded really well, there's a lot of improvement, Shikha did really well in the bowling. We need to think of the boundaries we are giving up. [Harman, Deol catches] Definitely, there's a lot of improvements, we want to keep going with that, fielding is very important. Every game is important, today was unfortunate because of rain, but there are two more games for us to prove ourselves."

England captain Heather Knight: "Still got a series to win, important we turn up at Hove. Really pleased today, thought Nat was outstanding in the middle over, brilliant partnership with Amy. Clinical with the ball, looked to take wickets early, so very pleasing. [Sciver] It was awesome, really aggressive. Nat hits the ball so hard, she struck it cleaner than ever. Danni and Tammy deserve a mention at the top as well, been a while since we had a 50 partnership. [Jones] She's moved down from opening, feel she's in a great position to win us games, four-five are really important [positions] and she's well suited to the role. [Rain] Unfortunately it's set in, would have been good to get out there."

Nat Sciver is Player of the Match: "It just came together, I was really enjoying it. The wicket was nice, it was good. [Good form] Definitely, got an opportunity to bat with more freedom, good partnership at the top and we've got a strong line-up so that helps. [Jones stand] Once you felt comfortable, you could really hit through the line, so we managed to get a good partnership together. Our plans in T20, we know them really well, and have had a lot of success, so it was a good game."

9.30pm: The rain has won here, as have England - by 18 runs on DLS. The decision was taken that they wouldn't be able to get the ground ready, even if it does stop raining soon. So England take the spoils, largely thanks to a rambunctious stand between Nat Sciver and Amy Jones, which took them out of reach. India can still tie the points series, but will need to win the next two games, at Hove and Chelmsford, in order to do so.

9.25pm: Doesn't sound as if there has been much improvement at Northampton, and we will start losing overs soon. Remember, an England win would put them 8-4 up in the multi-format series, with only four points left to play for.

"Reduced overs might be good for team India," reckons Ashish. "Trying to get 40 in 3 overs vs 10 runs a over for next 10 overs, first one seems more plausible." DLS can do funny things, often to the benefit of chasing teams...

"What would India's DLS par score be right now had they not lost any wickets?" It would have been 63 after nine overs, Noor. So India still short

9.10pm: Full covers are now in place on the square. "We had that rain earlier in Luton," says Adam, "it lasted about 10 minutes but was very heavy." Still seems to be coming down currently. We won't start losing overs until 9.31pm, so that's something

Prasad: "Classic example of lack of match awareness. When smrithi 2 those 2 4s India were ahead on DLS. She could have taken a single and looked for loose balls the next over. But now India lost 2 wickets pushing the DLS score much further." To be fair to her, Mandhana was just starting to look good - she almost hit that pull too well

9.05pm: Looks like a solid blob of rain has just mooched up from London, so we're going to have a bit of a delay here. Not sure how much extra time there is to play with, but sit tight and we'll hopefully have better news soon

And with that the umpires decide enough is enough, the rain is coming down pretty hard and the covers are being dragged into place. The DLS par score at the end of this over would be 74, so India are some way off as things stand - but let's hope we can get back out

END OF OVER:
20 | 11 Runs 1 Wkt | ENG-W: 177/7 | RR: 8.85

  • Sophie Ecclestone9 (4b)
  • Deepti Sharma4-0-38-0
  • Shikha Pandey4-0-22-3

8.15pm England finish on 177 for 7, thanks to a brilliant half-century from Nat Sciver and 27-ball 43 from Amy Jones. While the Indians displayed some excellent bit of fielding, they were also sloppy at times. Their bowlers too were inconsistent with their lines and lengths and that means the batters have daunting task on a pitch where the ball isn't really coming on to the bat. Alan will be back for the chase in a bit, stay tuned.

Phil: "Was Deol's catch legitimate? Her last point of contact with the ground prior to taking the catch was outside the field of play, so surely it was 6?" -- It's the last point of contact with the ground before the first contact with the ball that matters, so all fine here.

19.6
W
Sharma to Ecclestone, OUT, in the blockhole. Digs it out towards the left of the bowler. Deepti dives across, fields the ball and flicks it towards the stumps. She misses, had she hit it was a run out. The batters look to sneak in an overthrow. Radha Yadav though is aware at extra cover, collects the ball and fires in the throw to the keeper. Ghosh breaks the stump and the diving Brunt is just short

KH Brunt run out 2 (11m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00

19.5
6
Sharma to Ecclestone, SIX, length ball, stays back and smashes it over deep midwicket for a biggie
19.4
2
Sharma to Ecclestone, 2 runs, pitched up, dragged towards midwicket and the lack of power behind this means they can come back for the second
19.3
1
Sharma to Brunt, 1 run, fuller outside off, hits to the left of the bowler
19.2
1
Sharma to Ecclestone, 1 run, fuller on the stumps, Ecclestone misses the flick and gets hit on the pads. They collect a leg bye
19.1
1
Sharma to Brunt, 1 run, fuller outside off, dragged towards deep midwicket

Brunt to face now

END OF OVER:
19 | 7 Runs 3 Wkts | ENG-W: 166/6 | RR: 8.73

  • Katherine Sciver-Brunt0 (0b)
  • Shikha Pandey4-0-22-3
  • Poonam Yadav4-0-32-1
18.6
W
Pandey to Dunkley, OUT, an appeal for stumping. A length ball outside off, Dunkley goes deep and looks to cut. She misses but Ghosh collects the ball and breaks the stumps. Dunkley was off balanced and her back foot comes outside the crease and front foot was in the air over the line when the bails came off. Pandey gets her third of the over and I guess all were fielders' wickets

SIR Dunkley st †Ghosh b Pandey 1 (7m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00

18.5
W
Pandey to Jones, OUT, Deol gives competition to Kaur with this. But I reckon this is a much better catch. Was a full ball outside off and Jones went aerial towards wide long-off. Deol positioned her at the boundary line, pouched it overhead and the momentum and flicked it up before the momentum took her over the boundary line. And then she jumps in and collects it while still in the air

AE Jones c Deol b Pandey 43 (39m 27b 4x4 2x6) SR: 159.25

18.4
1
Pandey to Dunkley, 1 run, length ball on the stumps, stays back and works it towards midwicket

Dunkley now

18.3
1
Pandey to Jones, 1 run, fuller outside off, drags it towards long-on

Free Hit coming up

18.3
1nb
Pandey to Jones, 1 no ball, looks to move across towards the off side and Pandey bowls it wider. So wide that it misses the strip. Called a no-ball
18.2
W
Pandey to Sciver, OUT, an excellent catch to end an equally brilliant knock. Was a fuller delivery outside off. Sciver swipes at it, goes aerial towards long-on where Harmanpreet takes a couple of steps before diving forward and pouches it inches over the ground. They are checking upstairs if the catch is clean and yes, it is. Applause for Sciver as she walks back

NR Sciver c Kaur b Pandey 55 (50m 27b 8x4 1x6) SR: 203.70

18.1
4
Pandey to Sciver, FOUR, starts with a juicy full toss outside off and Sciver smashes it over midwicket for a one-bounce four

Pandey

END OF OVER:
18 | 10 Runs | ENG-W: 159/3 | RR: 8.83

  • Amy Jones42 (24b)
  • Nat Sciver-Brunt51 (25b)
  • Poonam Yadav4-0-32-1
  • Deepti Sharma3-0-27-0
17.6
0
Poonam Yadav to Jones, no run, length outside off. Finds the cover fielder with the cut
17.5
1
Poonam Yadav to Sciver, 1 run, use of feet to chip it uppishly towards deep midwicket
17.4
1
Poonam Yadav to Jones, 1 run, goes for the slog sweep. A single to deep midwicket
17.3
6
Poonam Yadav to Jones, SIX, Jones goes big. User her feet and gives it her all. Clears the long-on with ease
17.2
1
Poonam Yadav to Sciver, 1 run, and that's fifty for Sciver, off just 24 balls. Uses her feet to work it towards long-on
17.1
1
Poonam Yadav to Jones, 1 run, length ball on the stumps, worked towards backward square leg. That brings up 150 for England

Vish: "Has Jhulan officially retired from T20s?" -- Yes, she has.

Poonam now

END OF OVER:
17 | 13 Runs | ENG-W: 149/3 | RR: 8.76

  • Amy Jones34 (20b)
  • Nat Sciver-Brunt49 (23b)
  • Deepti Sharma3-0-27-0
  • Arundhati Reddy3-0-31-0
16.6
1
Sharma to Jones, 1 run, fuller on the stumps, flicked towards midwicket where a diving stop keeps it to one
16.5
0
Sharma to Jones, no run, goes for the sweep but misses. An appeal for lbw but it was going down
16.4
6
Sharma to Jones, SIX, launched towards long-on. Rana jumps and gets her hand to it but ends up parrying it over the boundary line for a six
16.3
0
Sharma to Jones, no run, was looking to go for the reverse sweep but Deepti bowls it down the leg side. Jones changes her mind and looks to sweep it towards fine leg but misses
16.2
4
Sharma to Jones, FOUR, inside out over extra cover. Use of feet to this length ball outside off and there's no stopping this one

IND Women 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st0S MandhanaShafali Verma
2nd44S MandhanaH Deol
3rd3H KaurH Deol
4th7DB SharmaH Deol