One-off Test: England fight back by removing Smriti, Harmanpreet, leave India at 202/5
London, July 10
Debutant off-spinner Mady Villiers struck a sensational blow on the final delivery of the afternoon session to dismiss India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, as hosts England fought their way back to leave the visitors at 202/5 in 51.2overs at tea on the first day of the one-off Test at Lord's on Friday.
While the first session majorly belonged to India, England's bowlers roared back into the contest in the post-lunch session by showing discipline in their bowling and picking up the crucial wickets of set batters Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet, who both compiled 83 and 58, respectively.
Resuming from 122/3 in 25 overs, Smriti and Harmanpreet (58) frustrated the hosts by taking India past the 150-run mark. Smriti was in splendid touch, using her feet elegantly against premier left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone and executing crisp pulls off the fast bowlers. At the other end, Harmanpreet battled intensely through physical discomfort and needed continuous medical attention from the team physio for troubles in her hand and hamstring.
Scoring mainly through the off-side, Harmanpreet reached her second Test half-century off 99 balls with a drive off Mady. However, England's persistence soon broke the 79-run stand off 155 balls against the run of play. Fast bowler Issy Wong, operating with supreme control, induced a faint outside edge from Smriti, as she fell 17 short of a historic century after being caught neatly behind by a diving Amy Jones standing up to the stumps.
England also burned two unsuccessful reviews during the session - one for a caught-behind off Smriti and another off Deepti Sharma (five not out). Just as the session seemed to be closing out evenly, Mady tossed one up beautifully outside off, and lured Harmanpreet into an expansive drive before turning sharply through the gate to castle the skipper and give England more delight at the stroke of tea break.
Brief scores:
India 202/5 in 51.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 83, Harmanpreet Kaur 58; Issy Wong 2-41, Mady Villiers 1-22) against England
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good battle between bat and ball at Lord's! India's women's team has come a long way - they're not afraid to play aggressive cricket abroad. Harmanpreet's fifty while struggling with injury shows the character in this team. Need Deepti and the lower order to contribute now.
England bowled well in the second session, no doubt. But those two unsuccessful reviews show they were getting a bit desperate too. Mady's delivery to get Harmanpreet was a beauty though - proper Test match bowling that turns through the gate. Let's see if we can push past 250.
Proud of how Smriti handled Ecclestone - using her feet against the spinner is not easy on English pitches. Pity about the dismissal but Wong bowled well. I think we are slightly behind now given we lost two set batters. Need a partnership in the last session 🙏
Honestly feel Harmanpreet should have been more careful at that stage. She was batting well but that expansive drive just before tea... bit reckless against a debutant off-spinner. Still, credit to Villiers for setting her up. India need another 80-100 runs to be safe.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.