History makers Kranti Gaud and Yastika Bhatia lead India to a dominant Test victory
India Women of England
India created history by winning the first ever Women's Test match at the Lord's Cricket Stadium by 270 runs and continue their unbeaten Test match run in England. The victory was headlined by India's batters and their pacers who completely out-bowled their counterparts in unfamiliar conditions. Kranti Gaud and Yastika Bhatia from India and Sophie Ecclestone from England became the first three Women to register their name on Lord's Honors Board. With this success, India now lead England 4-1 in 16 Women's Tests between these two teams.
The historic occasion began with England's captain Nat-Sciver Brunt opting to bowl after winning the toss. All three pacers named in the final eleven were wayward and could not hit the right lengths in the morning session but still managed to prize out three wickets. Smriti Mandhana was in her elements and looked a million dollars but Shafali Varma and Yastika Bhatia were dismissed by two beauties. Varma was squared by a good length delivery from Lauren Filer and she edged it to Amy Jones whereas Bhatia was bowled by a fuller one from Bell which seamed in but moved away slightly after pitching. Apart from those two balls, the pacers failed to show any consistency, spraying the ball around and missing the right length on this pitch. Jemimah Rodrigues gave away her wicket to a loose shot in the nineteenth over. England bowled with better control in the second session as the scoring rate started to come down. Jemimah needs to work on her technique a bit as she has an issue of reaching towards the ball while playing on front foot but in English conditions players are more successful, reacting late and waiting for the ball rather than go searching for their shots. Mandhana fell in an attempt to drive away from the body edging a harmless ball to Jones for 83. England's best bowler in the first essay, Mady Villers was introduced in the 38th over and she bowled a non-stop 19-over spell, dismissing India's captain Harmanpreet for a score of 57 with a dream delivery which pitched outside off and spun through the gap to hit the middle stump.
Deepti Sharma scored her fifth half-century in red-ball cricket as the last four wickets fell quickly. India's innings ended at 285 which was a disappointing total given their batters failed to fully capitalize on England's under-par display with the ball. Ecclestone finished with 3-68 but their pace-bowling spearhead, Lauren Bell had a poor day giving away runs at an economy of 5.6 in 9 overs. Kranti Gaud and Sayali Satghare were on target right from the start, showing their opponents the correct line and length on this helpful Lord's surface. Gaud removed Tammy Beaumont, who announced her International retirement before the start of this match with a perfect in-swinger that cut in sharply as Tammy played for a straighter one. Both Sayali and Kranti were relentless on the next morning when they collected three wickets in just 34 balls. Alice Capsey's dismissal was a treat to watch. Gaud delivered a jaffa which came in with the angle and straightened after pitching leaving Capsey bamboozled. Jones counter-attacked with a half-century but inside-edged one from Sneh Rana to short leg.
Kranti Gaud and Yastika Bhatia became the first two Women's names on the Lord's Honors Board
Rana also dismissed Mady in a similar fashion to Harmanpreet's wicket, giving the debutant a taste of her own medicine. The other batters could not mount any challenge for the hosts, getting all out for a meagre 170 and giving India a huge 115-run lead. Gaud secured a maiden fifer and became the first Women to record her name on the prestigious Lord's Honors Board. The hosts looked under-prepared and a bit worn out following a runners-up performance in the recent T20 World Cup whose final ended last Sunday. The cramped cricketing schedule meant England could not get enough practice with the Dukes ball under their belt although India had organized a training camp to prepare for this historic game post their Group Stage exit in the World Cup.
England's bowlers again started lethargically in the second innings allowing Smriti and Shafali to add 88 for the opening wicket taking their 50-run partnership count to 7, the most any pair in Women's Tests before Shafali gave it away handing a simple catch to mid-on. Another 73-run stand followed between Smriti and Yastika but Smriti got out trying to flick a wide delivery from Bell as Jones took an excellent catch. Smriti would be disappointed on missing out on the three-figure mark in both innings. After looking untroubled, Smriti got out to loose shots both times which would have frustrated her even more. Bhatia on the other hand was on a mission as her brought up her maiden century in Test cricket early in the second session of Day three. Bhatia, who has been battling with multiple injuries was delighted to etch her name on the honors board as the sole Women centurion in Test cricket at "The Home of Cricket". India lost a few wickets in an attempt to increase the scoring rate. Richa Ghosh got to her third half-century in Test cricket as India declared at 341-7. The English tactics were at time questionable, like introducing Mady Villers quite late in the second innings especially given the way she bowled in the first innings. Sophie Ecclestone took 5-118 and Bell was the pick of the bowler taking 2-27 in her 16 overs. Bell's hooping inswinger to floor Jemimah was a sight to behold.
England's target of 457 was already the highest chase in Women's Test cricket if hunted down successfully. But the tired team just didn't turn up to show some fight. Already hit by news of Tammy's retirement, their highest-capped cricketer Heather Knight also announced her retirement from International cricket at the end of Day 2. Tammy got a peach of an inswinger from Gaud once again, out for a golden duck in her final innings for England. The Indian pacers kept swinging it both ways leaving the home side in proper disarray. On top of that, Sneh Rana stuck in her starting over to remove skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt who overturned an lbw decision but was bowled on the next delivery trying to sweep a full one. Gaud also removed Knight in her last innings with Richa taking an excellent catch at short leg. With Bhatia taking the gloves, Richa took three blinders at short leg to contribute in a dominant victory. With England 6 down at the end of Day 3, there was not much left in the game. Jones became the first wicket-keeper to score a half-centuries in each innings of a Women's Test match but got out to Rana soon. The two spinners Deepti and Rana shared the last three wickets as Ecclestone hit her maiden half-century in International cricket. India won comfortably with Rana taking 4-42.
The Indian pace bowlers and the batting performances from Yastika and Smriti were the highlights for the Asian side who have now won 4 of their past five Tests. There is always scope of improvement but the team could not have put in a better performance in what was a memorable occasion for Women's cricket. England looked clueless and their lack of exposure to red-ball cricket was visible. Jones, Ecclestone and debutant Mady to some extent were the only notable acts. Both nations will now turn their focus towards the inaugural ICC Women's Champions Trophy next year but there were a lot of calls from different directions about the increase in the frequency of Women's Tests. This match was an advent to show Women also deserve more playing opportunities in the longest format and a 37,486 record attendance, the highest-ever in Women's Test is a testament to that fact. ICC and the Cricket Boards should have a detailed discussion around this and try to map some sort of a multi-format series or any small multi-nation competition in order to make these game more interesting. Sadly for now, we only two more Tests scheduled till April 2027.
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