India comprehensively outplayed England by 270 runs in the historic, first-ever Women's Test match held at Lord's Cricket Ground, wrapping up a dominant victory on Day 4.
Harmanpreet Kaur's side controlled the narrative from the opening day, demonstrating elite tactical planning and execution across all departments.
India posted 285 in their first innings thanks to half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana (83), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (58) and Deepti Sharma (57). In the second innings, wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia etched her name into the history books by scoring a magnificent 113 runs, becoming the first-ever woman to score a Test century at Lord’s.
Mandhana’s composed 70 in the second essay set up the massive lead while Richa Ghosh’s quickfire 50* allowed India to declare at 341/7, setting England an improbable target of 457 runs.
Young pacer Kranti Gaud delivered a match-defining performance, picking up a sensational 5 for 37 in the first innings to bowl England out for 170. She followed it up with two wickets in the second innings to finish with seven scalps in the match, rightfully earning the Player-of-the-Match award.
England entered Day 4 on shaky ground at 130/6, needing a monumental 327 more runs. Despite a fighting half-century from Sophie Ecclestone (50), off-spinner Sneh Rana (4-42) and Deepti Sharma (2-36) ran through the remaining batting order to bowl the hosts out for 186 before lunch.
Cricket fraternity was all full of praise for the Indian women’s team for their clinical performance throughout the one-off Test.
Here are the reactions:
