England’s Freya Kemp celebrates after taking the wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues during the 2nd women’s IT20 match between England and India at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol, England on May 30, 2026. (Photo/Getty Images)

Freya Kemp produced brilliant performances with both bat and ball as England defeated India by 26 runs in the second Women’s T20 match in Bristol on Saturday to level the three-match series 1-1.Kemp first scored an unbeaten 39 off just 13 balls to give England a late lead and then took 2/15, dismissing Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues, as India finished at 142/9 chasing 169.Now the series will be decided by the third and last T20 match to be held in Taunton on Tuesday.Earlier, India looked to be in control for most of England’s innings after restricting the hosts in the middle overs. Left-arm spinner Sri Charani continued his impressive start in international cricket, taking 3 wickets for 25 runs.However, Kemp changed the direction of the innings in the death overs. England scored 39 runs in the last two overs, including 24 runs in the last over bowled by Arundhati Reddy. Kemp hit two sixes and two fours during his innings, taking England to 168/5.India got off to a positive start through openers Shafali Verma and Mandhana. Shafali scored 22 runs in 14 balls while Mandhana scored 32 runs in 25 balls as the visitors kept pace with the target.Even after losing the openers, India stood comfortably at 78/2 after 10 overs.The match turned in the middle overs when England spinners Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone slowed down the scoring. Boundaries became difficult to find and the required run rate increased.Yastika Bhatia, who was dismissed by Dean on 29, struggled to increase the scoring rate and was eventually retired after scoring 33 runs from 36 balls as India looked to score quickly.Dean applied pressure with several economical overs while Ecclestone also kept the Indian batsmen under control at the other end.Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur tried to maintain the chase by scoring 28 runs in 22 balls. During her innings, she became the third batsman to score 4,000 runs in Women’s T20I, joining Suzie Bates and Smriti Mandhana.But England continued to attack at crucial moments.Kemp removed Jemima soon after coming to the crease, while Dean dealt a big blow by dismissing Richa Ghosh (8) and Harmanpreet within four balls.Harmanpreet left Dean behind while trying to attack from the outside and her dismissal left India with a lot to do.With the required rate rising rapidly and wickets falling regularly, India were unable to recover as England sealed victory and kept the series alive.