Stand-in captain Beaumont urges England to 'come out fighting'

Stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont has challenged England to "come out fighting" in the third T20 against India at The Oval on Friday, as the hosts look to overturn a 2-0 deficit and avoid a series defeat at the earliest opportunity.

Beaumont, who has been recalled to the T20 side under Charlotte Edwards after being out of favour with preceding coach Jon Lewis, has been named as captain because Nat Sciver-Brunt has a groin injury.

Sciver-Brunt spent time off the field as England fell 2-0 down in the five-match series in Tuesday's second T20, and will have a scan to determine her availability for the rest of the series.

"It's not the ideal circumstances, being 2-0 down, and with our captain and best batter out of the team," said Beaumont, 34.

"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."

England are already without another key batter in previous skipper Heather Knight, who has a hamstring injury which has ruled her out of the entire summer.

Maia Bouchier, who was dropped by England after the Ashes defeat at the beginning of the year, has been called up as cover for a batting line-up which is under significant pressure to perform.

Bouchier has been in good form for Hampshire this season, and is the seventh-highest top-scorer in this season's Women's T20 Blast with 242 runs.

Sciver-Brunt was a class apart with her 66 in England's 113 all out in the first T20 at Trent Bridge, while Beaumont top-scored with 54 at Bristol.

Specialist batters Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey have contributed just 19 runs between them in the two matches so far.

Dunkley was vice-captain when Sciver-Brunt left the field at Bristol and will keep that role on Friday, with Beaumont insisting she is a leader for the future but the current situation required a little more experience.

England face a stern test to turn the series around as India have been thoroughly dominant, building fine form ahead of the 50-over World Cup which they are hosting this autumn.

But Beaumont, who has captained Welsh Fire in The Hundred, believes the challenge will benefit England, with much of the narrative surrounding their Ashes hammering and poor record in World Cups focused on the lack of pressure they face in international cricket outside of those events.

"We keep talking about how we've wanted more challenge for a long time. 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," said Beaumont.

"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."