London: India Women enjoyed a productive opening day of the one-off Test against England Women at Lord’s, posting 285 in their first innings before reducing the hosts to 21/1 at stumps, leaving England trailing by 264 runs.
After opting to bat, India recovered well from early setbacks through an impressive partnership between Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Mandhana played a fluent knock of 83, while Harmanpreet added a composed half-century to steady the innings. Jemimah Rodrigues contributed 35, and Deepti Sharma produced a resilient fifty lower down the order to guide India to a competitive total.
England fought back late in the day as spinner Sophie Ecclestone claimed the final three wickets, while the pace attack also struck at key moments to prevent India from crossing the 300-run mark.
In reply, England endured an early setback when opener Tammy Beaumont was dismissed, with India’s seamers making good use of the conditions. Maia Bouchier remained unbeaten on 17 alongside Heather Knight, who survived a close LBW appeal after India decided against using the review.
The Lord’s surface offered assistance to both seamers and spinners throughout the day, setting up an intriguing contest heading into Day 2. With a healthy first-innings total and an early breakthrough, India hold the advantage, but England will look to build a substantial partnership and reduce the deficit when play resumes.
