Mandhana marks her 300th international as India bat first in historic Lord's Women's Test against England
London, July 10
England won the toss and asked India to bat first in the one-off Women's Test at Lord's on Friday, with opener Smriti Mandhana reaching a major career milestone by making her 300th international appearance.
Mandhana, who turns 30 on July 18, became the youngest woman cricketer to reach the 300-international milestone. She is only the 12th player in women's international cricket to achieve the feat and the third Indian after Mithali Raj (333 matches) and Harmanpreet Kaur (374).
The match is also historic as it marks the first-ever Women's Test to be played at Lord's, the iconic Home of Cricket. It is the 56th Women's Test to be staged in England, with the previous 55 having been played across 19 different venues. County Ground, Worcester, hosted the most Women's Tests in England with nine between 1951 and 2009, followed by The Oval with six between 1937 and 1976.
The contest is the 16th Women's Test between England and India. India holds the upper hand in the rivalry with three victories, while England's lone win came by just two runs at Jamshedpur in 1995 -- still the narrowest victory by runs in Women's Test history. The remaining 11 encounters have ended in draws.
This is India's 10th Women's Test in England. The visitors have won two of their previous nine Tests on English soil, while the other seven finished as draws.
The teams last met in England in a one-off Test in June 2021, which ended in a draw. Their most recent Test clash came in Navi Mumbai in December 2023, where India registered a commanding 347-run victory.
The match is also England batter Tammy Beaumont's final international appearance. Beaumont, the only England woman to score a double century in Test cricket, will retire at the conclusion of the match. She is also only the second woman in history to score international centuries in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
England are playing their 103rd Women's Test, while India are featuring in their 43rd.
Playing XIs:
England Women: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt (captain), Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wicketkeeper), Mady Villiers, Sophie Ecclestone, Issy Wong, Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer.
India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sayali Satghare, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud.
— ANI
Reader Comments
A historic moment for women's cricket - first Women's Test at Lord's! But I do wish our batting lineup was a bit more settled. Shafali and Yastika need to step up today. Also, it's nice to see Tammy Beaumont getting a fitting farewell. She's been a legend for England.
Imagine the feeling of playing your 300th international match at Lord's! 👏 Smriti Mandhana is a true icon of Indian sports. I remember watching her debut and now she's in the same league as Mithali and Harman. Just hope the weather holds up in London - those English summers are unpredictable!
The narrowest win in Women's Test history was England beating us by 2 runs in 1995 at Jamshedpur? 😮 That's incredible! Our women have dominated this rivalry since then though. With players like Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana, our bowling looks solid. Would love to see Jemimah Rodrigues bat for a long innings today.
I can't believe this is only the 56th Women's Test in England. Shows how much work still needs to be done for gender equality in cricket. The BCCI needs to schedule more Test matches for our women's team - they're playing way too many T20s. Smriti reaching 300 is a testament to her longevity despite limited Test opportunities.
Brilliant to see women's Test cricket at Lord's finally! This is the kind of moment I dreamed of as a kid. Smriti Mand
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.