The countdown is now well-and-truly on to Trent Bridge hosting the opening WIT20 of a mouthwatering series between England and India.

It will be the first time ever that Nottingham has hosted a women’s IT20, and there is much to discuss ahead of the historic clash - not least the continuation of several individual battles.

All five of these cat-and-mouse clashes are set to grace our historic home this week, when a tantalising series kicks off.

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Smriti Mandhana v Alice Capsey

Mandhana may currently reign as Wisden’s Leading Woman Cricketer in the World - and deservedly so, with a 2024 that saw her rack up 1,659 international runs, the most ever by a woman in a calendar year - but Capsey has very much had her number in their battles.

In the 32 balls that Capsey has bowled to Mandhana in T20 cricket, the young off-spinner has dismissed her twice, giving the Mumbai-born batter an average of just 16.50 - a number that stands in clear contrast to her overall average in the format of 28.68.

Capsey first came up against Mandhana in T20 cricket in the semi-finals of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and has since shared the field with her on 16 further occasions, including in seven internationals.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge v Deepti Sharma

Mention Sharma’s name in the context of England against India, and thoughts will inevitably transition to the infamous ‘Mankad’ dismissal of Charlie Dean in 2022, but her appearances against England go much further than that.

In particular, she has partaken in a long-standing IT20 battle with the experienced Wyatt-Hodge, though, despite having dismissed her three times, it is one that the latter has largely had the better of, scoring 131 runs from 95 balls for an average of 43.70.

The two played their first IT20 match against one another in March 2018, in the third game of a Mumbai-based tri-series that also involved Australia, and the tone was set immediately as Wyatt-Hodge crunched a stellar 124 from 64 balls, before falling to Sharma.

Shafali Verma v Lauren Bell

Precocious opener Verma, despite still being only 21 years of age, has almost six years of IT20 experience under her belt, and has faced up to quick Bell on five occasions in the format internationally.

Largely, their battle has been one of attrition, with England’s tall seamer taking her wicket once, but the batter otherwise adopting a low-risk watchful approach, scoring 32 runs from 33 Bell deliveries.

The sole occasion of Bell breaching Verma came in the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup in Gqeberha, South Africa, when Verma miscued her to Katherine Sciver-Brunt at mid-on as England eked out a tense 11-run win.

Harmanpreet Kaur v Nat Sciver-Brunt

The two all-rounder captains are both experienced operators with bat and ball for their respective teams, and have enjoyed an absorbing battle on an individual level since they first locked horns in a WIT20 more than a decade ago.

Sciver-Brunt has the upper hand when bowling to Kaur, having conceded just 32 runs from the 38 balls she has sent down as well as claiming the India captain’s wicket twice, in Chelmsford in 2021 and in Mumbai two years later.

Any notion that Kaur might return the favour of being similarly dominant when bowling to Sciver-Brunt, however, is dispelled, with the England skipper having struck 16 balls from Kaur for 24 runs, and keeping her powder dry by never having been dismissed by Kaur either.

Amy Jones v Radha Yadav

From one England international who plies her domestic trade for The Blaze to another, with wicketkeeper-batter Jones having put in a dominant showing overall against 25-year-old left-arm spinner Yadav.

The duo have only ever faced each other in the IT20 arena, with Yadav first bowling to Jones in 2018, and the batter initially comparatively watchful, scoring 13 runs from 12 balls - but since then, she has kicked on.

Overall, Jones has now struck 63 runs off 48 balls from Yadav, giving her a strike rate against the bowler of 131.2, and has been dismissed by her only once, bowled in a 2022 clash in Bristol that England went on to win by seven wickets.

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