London, July 11: The Indian women’s cricket team has established a strong grip in the historic Test match against England at Lord’s. By the end of the second day, India scored 154 runs for the loss of just one wicket in their second innings, giving them a substantial lead of 269 runs.
After losing the toss and opting to bat first, the Indian team posted 285 runs in their first innings. They faced early trouble, losing two wickets for just 37 runs. However, Smriti Mandhana took charge, forming a partnership of 64 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues and an impressive 89 runs with captain Harmanpreet Kaur for the fourth wicket.
Mandhana scored 83 runs with 12 boundaries before getting out, while Jemimah contributed 35 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur added 58 runs, and Deepti Sharma chipped in with 57 runs. For the hosts, Sophie Ecclestone was the standout bowler, claiming three wickets, while Lauren Filer, EC Wong, and Maddy Villiers each took two wickets.
In response, England’s first innings collapsed for just 170 runs. They lost four wickets for only 47 runs. Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones managed to salvage the innings with a fifth-wicket partnership of 84 runs, but once this partnership was broken, the team fell apart. Sciver-Brunt scored 44 runs, and Jones made 52 runs with six boundaries. For India, Kranti Gaud was the star bowler, taking five wickets for 37 runs, while Sayali Satghare and Sneh Rana each claimed two wickets.
India had a crucial lead of 115 runs from the first innings. By the end of Saturday’s play, they extended this lead to 269 runs. In their second innings, the opening partnership of Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana added 88 runs. Shefali scored 33 runs with seven boundaries before getting out, after which Mandhana partnered with Yastika Bhatia to add another 66 runs for the second wicket.
Mandhana remained unbeaten on 69 runs, hitting 10 boundaries, while Yastika contributed 39 runs with four boundaries. The only success for England in this innings came from Ecclestone.
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