India’s women conquer Lord’s with historic win
A stellar all-round performance fuelled India’s famous 270-run win over England in the first-ever Women’s Test staged at the iconic Lord’s here on Monday.
Needing four wickets to wrap up the game overnight, India completed formalities in the morning session on day four, dismissing England for 186 in 62.5 overs despite a dogged half-century from Sophie Ecclestone.
It was a clinical performance from India in a format they don’t play often, beating an out-of-sorts England fair and square in the “Home of Cricket”. Resuming their second innings at 130 for six, England batted for more than 90 minutes before succumbing to Indian bowlers. India had set a mammoth 457-run target for the hosts.
England’s lead scorer, Amy Jones (54 off 80) was the first wicket to fall on the day, with Sneh Rana having her caught at mid-wicket. Sophie Ecclestone, who was dropped twice off Gaud, too put up some resistance batting alongside Issy Wong (1 off 33) but they only delayed the inevitable. Deepti Sharma cleaned up the tail by removing Lauren Bell and Wong in quick succession.
Rana bowled a beauty to finally get rid of Ecclestone, triggering on-field celebrations and in the Indian dressing room.
Both India and England had endured disappointment in the preceding T20 World Cup and with Lord’s hosting a Women’s Test 142 years after it conducted the first men’s Test, there was a lot at stake for both teams.
The foundation of the win for India was laid by Smriti Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia, who scored a memorable hundred on day three, before Kranti Gaud headlined the bowling performance with a five-wicket haul and her name on the Lord’s Honours Board.
The Indian batters showed a lot more application than their English counterparts on a pitch that offered seam movement and by day three the odd ball was keeping low.
Pacers Gaud and Sayali Satghare outbowled their opponents, using the slope effectively to generate plenty of seam movement. Off-spinner Rana too was able to maintain the pressure created by the seamers.
With the massive win, India also maintained their superior record against England in the longest format. In the 16 Tests both teams have played, India have won four games, England one, while the remaining 11 matches were drawn.
India’s only defeat to England came way back in 1995. The Indian team had got a pep talk from the great Sachin Tendulkar before the start of day’s play. ICC chairman Jay Shah was also watching the action from the stands with Tendulkar, who later shook hands with the players.
It was also a farewell game for England veteran Tammy Beaumont and former captain Heather Knight.
