Stand-in captain Tammy Beaumount urges England to ‘come out fighting’ against India

Beaumont leads the team, who have lost their first two ODIs, in the absence of the injured Nat Sciver-Brunt

Tammy Beaumont has urged England to 'come out fighting' in the third ODI against India (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)

England women’s stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont has urged her team “come out fighting” if they’re to turn around their series against India.

England go into tonight’s third T20 international 2-0 down in the series against India and need to win to avoid losing the series with two matches to spare.

Having beaten the West Indies easily in all six matches of their tour earlier in the campaign, Nat Sciver-Brunt’s team has come unstuck in spectacular fashion against India, losing by a record 97 runs in the first T20 at Trent Bridge and then by 24 runs at Bristol on Tuesday.

With Sciver-Brunt missing tonight’s encounter due to groin injury, Tammy Beaumont has been given the skipper’s armband and she want England to remain composed.

"It's not the ideal circumstances, being 2-0 down, and with our captain and best batter out of the team," Beaumont told the BBC.

"But the worst thing we could do right now is panic. We certainly believe we can come back and win, and we'll come out fighting."

Beaumont to scored with 54 in the defeat at Bristol and her call up to captain really is a reversal of fortune under current coach Charlotte Edwards, after she’d been overlooked towards the end of the tenure of former coach Jon Lewis. She’s previously taken charge of Welsh Fire in The Hundred.

"We keep talking about how we've wanted more challenge for a long time,” said the 34-year-old. “We are well aware of the fact our results in world tournaments or big series like the Ashes haven't been what we want for a number of years.

"That won't improve until we are pushed more in bilateral series, learning from that pressure and getting better each time. It's happened quite early on and it may have come as a bit of a shock.

"Nat and Charlotte haven't been in for long, but we want to tackle it head on and not shy away from those issues and hopefully create some momentum to turn that record around."