India Women’s Deepti Sharma and teammates celebrate her five-wicket haul during Day 2 of the One-off test match against England Women, at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Friday. (BCCI Women X)
After a brilliant batting performance that saw them post their second-highest total in the format, India delivered a memorable bowling display as well to dismiss England for 136 and take a first-innings lead of 292 runs on Day 2 of the one-off Test at the DY Patil Stadium here on Friday. The star with the ball was off-spinner Deepti Sharma, who backed up her knock of 67 runs with a stunning spell of five wickets for just seven runs.
Despite England’s first innings wrapping up by tea and 51 overs remaining in the day, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co decided against enforcing the follow-on and got to 186/6 at stumps. It was a day that saw 19 wickets fall, leaving India with a lead of 478 runs – the biggest second-innings lead ever in a women’s Test.
India were dealt a setback before play began as Shubha Satheesh, who had impressed with a half-century on her international debut a day earlier, didn’t take the field after injuring her finger while warming up. The 24-year-old left-hander didn’t come out to bat in the second innings, raising doubts about her participation in the Test match against Australia which begins next week.
Having fielded for 94 overs on the opening day, England took just 63 balls to claim India’s last three wickets as Lauren Bell and Sophie Ecclestone returned with three-fors. However, not a lot went against the hosts from thereon as the visitors suffered a dramatic batting collapse.
Sophia Dunkley, who replaced the injured Emma Lamb at the top of the order, was dismissed for the fourth time in as many innings on the tour by Renuka Singh Thakur. Skipper Heather Knight didn’t last long either and was trapped in front by Pooja Vastrakar.
At 28/2, England were in need of a partnership and they got their biggest one as Tammy Beaumont and Natalie Sciver-Brunt added 51 runs for the third wicket. Beaumont, who had scored 208 against Australia in June to become the first English woman to hit a Test double century, never looked comfortable though. The right-hander mistimed several shots and survived a close LBW shout, before being run out by Pooja.
It was a superb bit of fielding by Pooja as she ran across from mid-wicket, grabbed the ball with one hand and hit her target on the run despite having just one stump to aim at. Her effort was in sync with India’s overall fielding performance as the players moved with great intensity and threw themselves at every opportunity.
With England threatening to build another partnership thanks to Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt, Deepti joined the attack to begin a spell for the ages. There was sharp turn on offer and the 26-year-old made full use of it. She first got Wyatt caught at short-leg, before removing Amy Jones and Ecclestone in a span of three deliveries.
In the next over, Sciver-Brunt, who did well to register her fourth half-century in Tests, was bowled by Sneh Rana (2/25) thanks to a delivery that spun back in miles. Deepti and her fellow off-spinner Sneh kept attacking the stumps as England lost their last six wickets for a mere 10 runs.
Deepti set the record for the fewest overs bowled (5.3) to take a five-wicket haul in women’s Test cricket. She also became just the second Indian woman to score a fifty and pick a five-for in the same Test, after Shubhangi Kulkarni achieved the feat against New Zealand in 1985.
“I was waiting for my turn to bowl. The pitch was helping spinners and I wanted to make the most of the conditions,” said Deepti. “The main thing was to hit the right areas repeatedly. Our pacers also bowled well initially and then we held our nerves nicely when England had a partnership. I like Test cricket a lot and am always keen to do my best with both bat and ball.”
Sciver-Brunt added: “Deepti’s lengths (made things difficult for England’s batters). Making the batters unsure whether to go forward or stay back. She bowled a length that was difficult to read, and she obviously attacked the stumps.”
In their second innings, India found the going tough after a 61-run partnership for the first wicket by Shafali Verma (33) and Smriti Mandhana (26). Along with the openers, Jemimah Rodrigues (27) and Deepti (20) got starts as well but couldn’t convert them into big scores. Skipper Harmanpreet (44) and Pooja (17) showed composure to negotiate a tricky last hour and add an unbeaten partnership of 53 runs for the seventh wicket.
Spinners Ecclestone and Charlie Dean did the bulk of the bowling, with the latter picking four wickets. England, however, remained with their backs firmly against the wall at the end of day’s play.