Freya Kemp produced the standout all-round performance of her young international career as England levelled their five-match Twenty20 series against India with a 26-run victory at Bristol’s County Ground on Friday night. The 20-year-old left-arm seamer struck three times in four overs and earlier hammered an unbeaten 41 from 22 balls, hauling Heather Knight’s side back into a contest they had threatened to lose long before the World Cup begins in September.
Set 167 to win after England posted 166 for 6, India were cruising at 89 for 1 in the 10th over before Kemp’s double-wicket maiden tilted the night decisively. Smriti Mandhana’s classy 52 ended when she dragged on, Harmanpreet Kaur followed three balls later, and the tourists subsided to 140 for 8. England, beaten by 38 runs in the opener at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday, now head to Old Trafford on Sunday with the series locked at 1-1.
Kemp’s night to remember on the comeback trail
Eighteen months ago, Kemp was sidelined by the stress fracture in her back that has dogged the careers of so many fast bowlers before her. A torn hamstring suffered at the Women’s Premier League in February threatened another lost summer. That she walked off at Bristol clutching the player-of-the-match award felt, in her own words afterwards, “like the end of a very long road.”
Promoted to number five with England wobbling at 96 for 4 in the 13th over, Kemp launched Deepti Sharma over long-on for the shot of the innings and added two more sixes off Sneh Rana. Her stand of 58 in 31 balls with Amy Jones, who finished 39 not out, lifted England from a competitive total to a defendable one. Then, handed the ball in the seventh over of India’s reply, she removed Shafali Verma with her third delivery, an inswinger that pinned the opener in front.
“Freya has been through a lot to get back here,” Knight said. “We have always known the talent. Tonight she showed the temperament to match. Performances like that change tournaments.”
England find the template they had been searching for
The defeat at Chester-le-Street exposed familiar flaws: a top order that started slowly, middle-overs drift, and an attack short of variety against Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues. Knight responded by elevating Maia Bouchier to open with Danni Wyatt-Hodge, moving Nat Sciver-Brunt to three, and recalling left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who finished with 2 for 24 from her four overs.
The changes worked. Bouchier and Wyatt-Hodge added 51 inside the powerplay, and although Sciver-Brunt was bowled for 18 by a Rana arm-ball, the platform proved decisive. England’s shot selection in the death overs, criticised after the opener, was sharper. Sixteen runs came from the 19th over, bowled by Renuka Singh, and the innings closed with England having struck nine fours and six sixes.
India’s reply was undone as much by their own caution as England’s accuracy. Mandhana scored at better than a run a ball, but Rodrigues struggled to rotate strike against Ecclestone and Charlie Dean, and only 41 came from overs 11 to 15. By the time Richa Ghosh launched a counter-attack, the required rate had climbed beyond 12.
What it means before the World Cup
England fly to India for the T20 World Cup in three months with the group stage looming against South Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The squad Knight names in early August is expected to lean heavily on the players who performed at Bristol. Kemp’s emergence as a genuine bowling all-rounder addresses the team’s most pressing selection puzzle: who provides the seam-bowling balance when Lauren Bell and Sciver-Brunt need protecting in subcontinental heat.
The wider picture is more nuanced. England have not won a global white-ball trophy since the 2009 World T20, and their last World Cup ended in a semi-final defeat by South Africa in Cape Town. India, beaten finalists at the Commonwealth Games and runners-up in the inaugural Women’s Asia Cup last year, remain a step ahead in depth if not in big-match experience.
Three matches remain in this series, at Old Trafford, the Oval and Edgbaston. For Knight, victory in any two would deliver England’s first bilateral series win over India since 2022. For Kemp, the more immediate target is simpler.
- Career-best T20I figures of 3 for 19, her first international three-wicket haul
- Highest score with the bat since her 49 against Sri Lanka in September 2024
- First England all-rounder to score 40-plus and take three wickets in a T20I since Sciver-Brunt against Pakistan in 2023
- England’s first home win over India in nine T20Is dating back to 2021
“I just want to keep playing,” she said. “The rest takes care of itself.” On nights like this, it does.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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