IND vs ENG: India records biggest win in women’s Test history, beats England by 347 runs

IND-W vs ENG-W: India recorded the biggest win in women’s Tests with a 347-run triumph over England, surpassing the previous best of 309 by Sri Lanka against Pakistan.

India recorded the biggest win (by runs) in women’s Test cricket history, beating England by 347 runs in the one-off match at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.

• Having set a whopping 478-run target by declaring on its overnight score of 186 for six, India proceeded to bundle out the visitor for 131 in 27.3 overs.
• India’s win was its sixth in 39 Tests, levelling it with six losses besides 27 draws in the format. Inda’s margin of victory is only the second instance of a 300-plus run victory in women’s Tests, surpassing the previous high of a 309-run win by Sri Lanka against Pakistan in 1998.
• It was also India’s first win over England at home, extending its overall positive head-to-head to 3-1 across 15 meetings.

HIGHLIGHTS, DAY 3

In its first innings after winning the toss, India racked up 428 runs to record its highest first-innings score and second-highest overall. India’s run rate of 4.09 in the innings was also the first instance of a women’s Test innings with run rate in excess of 4 rpo.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s side also aggregated 614 runs across two innings, its best haul in a Test.
India will next face Australia in a one-off Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from December 21-24.

Day 2 Review

• It was a strange second day of action as India, who posted 428 in their first innings, gained a lead of 292 runs and decided to bat instead of forcing a follow-on. They ended the second day at 186/6 off 42 overs to extend their lead to 478 runs with two days to go.
• 19 wickets fell on the second with spinners bagging 16 of them. This is the maximum number of wickets to fall in a single day in a women’s Test match in India, surpassing the 16 that fell in a day against England at Jamshedpur in 1995. Five wickets fell in the first session, eight in the second and six in the third session of the day.
• While the Indian spinners got their victims with balls that kept low and turned sharply at times, their taller English counterparts foxed the batters with deliveries that bounced. Deepti who was out for 67 in the morning as India posted 428 in their first innings, adding 18 runs to their overnight score, ended with figures of 5.2-4-7-5, her best bowling performance coming in her third Test.
• Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana raised 60 runs for the opening wicket, the former a bit circumspect in her approach at the second calling while Mandhana started more aggressively as she scored 26 off 29 balls, hitting three boundaries and one six before she fell to Sophie Ecclestone, the ball hitting the top of the bat and landing in the hands of Charlie Dean at short-leg.
Yastika Bhatia did not last long and though Jemimah Rodrigues (27) and Harmanpreet added 32 runs for the fourth wicket, India slumped from 77/2 in the 16th over to 133/6 in the 28th, the England spinners sharing the six wickets between them.
India Playing XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia(w), Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Thakur Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad..
England Playing XI: Tammy Beaumont, Sophia Dunkley, Heather Knight(c), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danielle Wyatt, Amy Jones(w), Sophie Ecclestone, Charlotte Dean, Kate Cross, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell.