India Women endured a frustrating collapse after three half-centuries but finished the opening day of the one-off Test against England on a positive note, dismissing Tammy Beaumont late to leave the hosts at 21 for 1 in reply at stumps at Lord’s on Friday.
Having been bowled out for 285 after looking set for a considerably bigger total, India struck through debutant pacer Kranti Goud in the closing stages to ensure England headed back to the dressing room still trailing by 264 runs.
ENG-W vs IND-W, Lord’s Test Day 1: Highlights | Scorecard
India’s innings was built around fluent knocks from Smriti Mandhana (83), captain Harmanpreet Kaur (58) and all-rounder Deepti Sharma (57), but none of the batters managed to convert their starts into a match-defining century.
After being asked to bat, India suffered an early setback as Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia departed inside the first seven overs, reducing the visitors to 37 for 2.
Mandhana steadied the innings in the company of Jemimah Rodrigues, who played an enterprising knock of 35 off 38 deliveries. The pair added 64 runs for the third wicket, shifting the momentum back in India’s favour with positive strokeplay.
Mandhana looked particularly assured against both pace and spin, taking on Lauren Filer with successive boundaries before launching Sophie Ecclestone over midwicket for a six. Rodrigues matched her intent at the other end before her aggressive approach brought about her downfall as an attempted drive off Issy Wong ended with the ball clipping the stumps via the inside edge.
With Rodrigues gone, Harmanpreet joined Mandhana to produce India’s most substantial partnership of the innings. Their 89-run stand for the fourth wicket put England under sustained pressure as both batters rotated strike well and punished anything loose.
Mandhana appeared well set for another Test century but fell for 83 after edging Wong behind to wicketkeeper Amy Jones. Harmanpreet, who had looked increasingly comfortable as the innings progressed, also missed out on a bigger score when Mady Villiers produced a sharp off-break to bowl the Indian captain just before tea.
India went into the interval at 202 for 5 with the advantage still firmly in their hands, but England fought back strongly in the final session.
Deepti once again demonstrated her value in the lower middle order, compiling a composed half-century and sharing a useful 45-run partnership with Sneh Rana to push India beyond the 250-run mark. However, regular wickets prevented India from building the kind of total that had looked possible when they were cruising at 190 for 3.
England’s bowlers tightened their lines after tea, with Ecclestone claiming three wickets to become England Women’s leading wicket-taker in international cricket, overtaking Katherine Sciver-Brunt’s tally of 335 wickets. Wong and Villiers also made timely breakthroughs as India lost their remaining seven wickets for just 95 runs to be dismissed for 285.
England’s reply got off to a nervy start as Kranti Goud struck early to remove Beaumont for just two, handing India the ideal finish to the day. Maya Bouchier remained unbeaten on 17 alongside Heather Knight on one at stumps, but England still face a sizeable first-innings deficit.
While India will be disappointed not to have crossed the 300-run mark after the strong foundations laid by Mandhana and Harmanpreet, the late breakthrough ensured they ended the opening day with the momentum. With assistance for the spinners already evident at Lord’s, India will hope to make further inroads with the ball when play resumes on Day 2.
– Ends
