Smriti Mandanna (Photo: IANS)
India tightened their grip on the historic one-off women’s Test at Lord’s with an almost flawless second day, leaving England staring at a mammoth task. After bowling the hosts out for just 170 to take a 115-run first-innings lead, the visitors battled hard to reach 154/1 in the second innings, extending their overall advantage to 269 runs with nine wickets remaining in hand.If the opening day belonged to India’s experienced batsmen, day two was decided by Kranti Goud’s sensational spell before Smriti Mandhana once again underscored why she remains the backbone of India’s batting line-up.
Kranti Goud produces a career-defining spell
England resumed the morning at 21/1, hoping to erase India’s first innings total of 285. Instead, they faced an inspired Indian pace attack. Goode struck early to remove Maya Bouchier before Sneh Rana broke a promising partnership by dismissing Amy Jones, whose 52 off 62 balls was the only bright spot in England’s innings.Once Jones was gone, England’s resistance quickly faded. Judd attacked the stumps relentlessly, extracting action from Lord’s surface and exposing the lower order with his disciplined seam bowling. She completed a memorable five-wicket haul, becoming the youngest Indian woman fast bowler to score a Test five, surpassing Jhulan Goswami’s previous record.Her spell also marked the first five-wicket haul by an England women’s Test fast bowler since Ellyse Perry’s 6/32 in 2015, while England’s 170 became the third-lowest total for a first innings against India at home.
Mandana and Shafali closed the door on England
Armed with a huge first-innings lead, India resisted any temptation to chase a quick run. Instead, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma batted coolly, stifling England’s attack with the new ball before taking steady control.The duo added 88 runs for the opening wicket, frustrating the hosts for almost an entire session. In doing so, they registered their seventh 50-over partnership in women’s Tests, the most by any pair in the history of the format, surpassing former Indian duo Sandhya Agarwal and Sudha Shah.
Shafali looked fluent before dropping to 33, in an attempt to take on Sophie Ecclestone, but her dismissal hardly slowed India’s progress.
Mandhana leads from the front again
Mandhana continued her outstanding Test run with another emphatic innings, remaining unbeaten on 69 at stumps. The left-hander mixes patience with elegant strokes, rarely allowing England’s bowlers to build any sustained pressure.Then she found another reliable partner in Yastika Bhatia, who compiled Calm 39 Not Out. Together the duo added an unbeaten fifty-run stand to extend India’s lead beyond 250 and leave England with little encouragement heading into the third day.
India are looking forward to a historic victory on the cricket field
With a 269-run lead, nine wickets still intact and six sessions remaining, India head into the third day strong.
| Roles | a result | Best performers |
|---|---|---|
| India Women – First Innings | 285 everything | Smriti Mandhana 83, Harmanpreet Kaur 58, Deepti Sharma 57; Sophie Ecclestone 3/68 |
| England Women – First Round | 170 everything | Amy Jones (52), Nat Sciver-Brent (44); Kranti Goud 5/37, Sayali Satgari 2/40, Sneh Rana 2/41 |
| Indian Women – Second Round | 154/1 (42 overs) | Smriti Mandhana 69*, Yastika Bhatia 39*, Shafali Verma 33; Sophie Ecclestone 1/46 |
| Match status | India’s women lead by 269 points | 9 wickets in hand |