Off-spinner Sneh Rana picked a superb four-wicket haul as a clinical Indian team scripted history by beating England by 270 runs to clinch a victory in the historic first-ever Women’s Test match at Lord’s on Monday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chasing an improbable world-record target of 457 runs, England’s lower-order resistance was systematically dismantled by the Indian spin duo of Rana (4-42) and Deepti Sharma (2-36) in the first session, as the hosts were bundled out for 186 in 62.5 overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It meant that Harmanpreet Kaur and her team secured a highly-deserving and comprehensive victory at the iconic venue. With this triumph, India has also extended their formidable run in red-ball cricket, by securing their seventh victory in last 11 Test matches. Crucially, they have maintained their proud unbeaten record in the longest format on English soil.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Resuming day four from 130\/6, England’s faint hopes of delaying the inevitable rested heavily on overnight half-centurion Amy Jones. However, India struck in the third over of the morning as Sneh sent down a short delivery that Amy (54) uncharacteristically pulled straight into the hands of Shafali Verma at mid-wicket, signalling the end of any realistic English resistance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Issy Wong and Sophie Ecclestone defied the Indian bowling attack for nearly 10 overs without scoring. The resistance was broken when Deepti produced a peach of a delivery that drifted in and went straight on to beat Issy’s defensive push and disturb her off-stump.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sophie, meanwhile, fetched boundaries off Kranti Gaud and Deepti Sharma to keep the scoreboard moving. She found a fleeting ally in Lauren Bell, but Deepti drew her forward with a flighted delivery that spun sharply back into the right-hander and crashed into the top of the off-stump.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With England reeling at 159\/9, Lauren Filer joined Sophie, who continued to display commendable rearguard action. Sophie drove Deepti for a single in the 62nd over to reach her maiden Test half-century in 61 balls amidst applause from the crowd. But Sneh, who threatened both edges while bowling from around the wicket, quickly wrapped up the proceedings with a screamer of a delivery.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
She tossed one up nicely outside off with a bit of dip and enticed Sophie into a forward defence, only for the ball to sneak through the gate and knock the stumps over. The comprehensive victory coming in front of legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, who gave a pep talk to the Indian team before the start of day’s play, as well as ICC Chairman Jay Shah, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla and Secretary Devajit Saikia encapsulated India's absolute dominance in all three facets of the game throughout the four days.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With England reeling at 159\/9, Lauren Filer joined Sophie, who continued to display commendable rearguard action. Sophie drove Deepti for a single in the 62nd over to reach her maiden Test half-century in 61 balls amidst applause from the crowd. But Sneh, who threatened both edges while bowling from around the wicket, quickly wrapped up the proceedings with a screamer of a delivery.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Brief Scores: India 285 and 341\/7 dec in 86.3 overs (Yastika Bhatia 113; Sophie Ecclestone 5-118) beat England 170 and 186 in 62.5 overs (Amy Jones 54, Sophie Ecclestone 50; Sneh Rana 4-42, Sayali Satghare 2-24) by 270 runs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n