Kaur & Co clinch victory in first-ever women’s Test held at Lord’s
London: A stellar all-round performance fuelled India’s famous 270-run win over England in the first-ever Women’s Test staged at the iconic Lord’s here on Monday.
Needing four wickets to wrap up the game overnight, India completed formalities in the morning session on day four, dismissing England for 186 in 62.5 overs despite a dogged half-century from Sophie Ecclestone.
It was a clinical performance from India in a format they don’t play often, beating an out of sorts England fair and square in the “Home of Cricket”.
Resuming their second innings at 130 for six, England batted for more than 90 minutes before succumbing to Indian bowlers. India had set a mammoth 457-run target for the hosts.
England’s lead scorer Amy Jones (54 off 80) was the first wicket to fall on the day with Sneh Rana having her caught at mid-wicket.
Sophie Ecclestone, who was dropped twice off Gaud, too put up some resistance batting alongside Issy Wong (1 off 33) but they only delayed the inevitable.
Deepti Sharma cleaned up the tail by removing Lauren Bell and Wong in quick succession. Rana bowled a beauty to finally get rid of Ecclestone, triggering on field celebrations and in the Indian dressing room.
Both India and England had endured disappointment in the preceding T20 World Cup and with Lord’s hosting a Women’s Test 142 years after it conducted the first men’s Test, there was a lot at stake for both teams.
