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Preamble<\/p>\n
Charlotte Edwards is the best women\u2019s cricket coach in the world*. But even she can\u2019t build Rome in a day. The scale of Edwards\u2019 job has revealed itself in the last month, with her England side fighting tooth and nail just to stay in the India\u2019s slipstream. They were flattered by a 3-2 defeat in the T20 series and were beaten with deceptive comfort in Thursday\u2019s first ODI. If India win at Lord\u2019s today, England will have lost two white-ball series at home in the space of 11 days.<\/p>\n
Edwards will surely succeed in time, but there could be more short-term pain than we envisaged. The upcoming 50-over World Cup is in India and Sri Lanka; for a team who bat so awkwardly against spin, this is not entirely optimal.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to see them beating the favourites at the World Cup, although New Zealand\u2019s glorious T20 triumph last year was a reminder that you can achieve anything with Maureen Mentum on your side. First England need to built that momentum, ideally by winning this ODI series.<\/p>\n
Or at least drawing it: it\u2019s bucketing down at Lord\u2019s, with a forecast for a whole lot more.<\/p>\n
Toss** 10.30am<\/p>\n
First ball** 11am<\/p>\n
* Probably. This is a live blog, not a judicial review. If you have a different opinion, that\u2019s fine. As Clint Eastwood said, opinions are like foibles; everyone\u2019s got dozens.<\/p>\n
** Not happening<\/p>\n