London, July 13 (IANS) Off-spinner Sneh Rana picked a superb four-wicket haul as a clinical Indian team scripted history by beating England by 270 runs to clinch a victory in the historic first-ever Women’s Test match at Lord’s on Monday.
Chasing an improbable world-record target of 457 runs, England’s lower-order resistance was systematically dismantled by the Indian spin duo of Rana (4-42) and Deepti Sharma (2-36) in the first session, as the hosts were bundled out for 186 in 62.5 overs.
It meant that Harmanpreet Kaur and her team secured a highly-deserving and comprehensive victory at the iconic venue. With this triumph, India has also extended their formidable run in red-ball cricket, by securing their seventh victory in last 11 Test matches. Crucially, they have maintained their proud unbeaten record in the longest format on English soil.
Resuming day four from 130/6, England’s faint hopes of delaying the inevitable rested heavily on overnight half-centurion Amy Jones. However, India struck in the third over of the morning as Sneh sent down a short delivery that Amy (54) uncharacteristically pulled straight into the hands of Shafali Verma at mid-wicket, signalling the end of any realistic English resistance.
Issy Wong and Sophie Ecclestone defied the Indian bowling attack for nearly 10 overs without scoring. The resistance was broken when Deepti produced a peach of a delivery that drifted in and went straight on to beat Issy’s defensive push and disturb her off-stump.
Sophie, meanwhile, fetched boundaries off Kranti Gaud and Deepti Sharma to keep the scoreboard moving. She found a fleeting ally in Lauren Bell, but Deepti drew her forward with a flighted delivery that spun sharply back into the right-hander and crashed into the top of the off-stump.
With England reeling at 159/9, Lauren Filer joined Sophie, who continued to display commendable rearguard action. Sophie drove Deepti for a single in the 62nd over to reach her maiden Test half-century in 61 balls amidst applause from the crowd. But Sneh, who threatened both edges while bowling from around the wicket, quickly wrapped up the proceedings with a screamer of a delivery.
She tossed one up nicely outside off with a bit of dip and enticed Sophie into a forward defence, only for the ball to sneak through the gate and knock the stumps over. The comprehensive victory coming in front of legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, who gave a pep talk to the Indian team before the start of day’s play, as well as ICC Chairman Jay Shah, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla and Secretary Devajit Saikia encapsulated India's absolute dominance in all three facets of the game throughout the four days.
Apart from Sneh, India’s heroes of the memorable victory include vice-captain Mandhana hitting 83 and 70 before Yastika Bhatia batted England out of the contest with a stunning 113 - the first century by a women’s Test batter at Lord’s and Richa Ghosh smashing an unbeaten 52-ball 50 and Kranti Gaud picking the first wicket-haul at the iconic venue in Tests. It took 142 years for Lord’s to host its first Women's Test, and India ensured they made it one to remember for a long time.
Brief Scores: India 285 and 341/7 dec in 86.3 overs (Yastika Bhatia 113; Sophie Ecclestone 5-118) beat England 170 and 186 in 62.5 overs (Amy Jones 54, Sophie Ecclestone 50; Sneh Rana 4-42, Sayali Satghare 2-24) by 270 runs.
--IANS
