Navi Mumbai, Dec 15 : Deepti Sharma bamboozled the batters to claim a maiden fifer (5 for 7), as India Women bundled out England for 136 and then raised 186/6 in their second innings to take total control of the four-day one-off Test at the DY Patil Stadium here on Friday.
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.
At stumps, India skipper Harmanpreet was batting on 44 off 67, hoping to score her maiden half-century on the third day. Pooja Vastrakar was keeping her company with 17, as they raised 53 runs off 85 balls for the seventh wicket. For England, Charlie Dean claimed 4-68 while Sophie Ecclestone got 2-76.
After India raced to 410/7 on the first day, 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.
It was a day dominated by spinners and none was better than Deepti Sharma, who claimed 5-7 to turn the game India’s way. It was a nice all-round performance for her as she scored 87 runs across two innings, getting out twice in a day.
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.
Cutting down on pace to extract sharp turn at times on a pitch on which some deliveries kept a bit low, Deepti tossed up her deliveries, got a good loop going and mixed them with straight ones to keep the batters guessing.
The 26-year-old from Agra, Uttar Pradesh claimed the wickets of Danni Wyatt (19), Amy Jones (12), Sophie Ecclestone (0), Kate Cross (1) and Lauren Filer (5) as she came up with the brilliant display of spin bowling.
Fellow off-spinner Sneh Rana, who opened the bowling for India along with debutante pacer Renuka Singh Thakur, claimed the crucial wicket of Nat Sciver-Brunt, who top-scored for England with 59 off 70 deliveries, hitting 10 boundaries. Sneh pitched it wide and extracted sharp turn as Nat went back to make space to cut it but missed it completely, the ball going on to crash into the stumps. Sneh also trapped Charlie Dean lbw for a duck for figures of 2/25.
Debutante Renuka Singh started England’s downfall in the third over when a delivery moved in off the pitch and went through the big gap between bat and pad to crash into the middle stump. England were down to 13/1.
Vastrakar then made it 28/2 by sending back the dangerous Heather Knight in her first over. England’s skipper, their most experienced player, got out as The ball moved in from outside off, evaded the bat and struck her back foot. Knight reviewed the decision but DRS showed no bat was involved.
Tammy Beaumont, who scored a double hundred in England’s previous Test against Australia at Nottingham, was the next to go, run out thanks to a brilliant piece of pick-up-and-throw by Vastrakar. Beaumont and Nat Sciver-Brunt added 51 runs for the third wicket, England’s best in the first innings.
Deepti then got into the act and with Sneh Rana backing her up, triggered a collapse as England lost seven wickets for 32 runs from 104/3.
Deepti started by dismissing Wyatt in her first over, getting her second delivery of the match turned and taking the inside edge onto her pads, lobbing up as a simple catch for Jemimah Rodrigues at short-leg.
Amy Jones got out freakishly as her pull shot on a short one ricocheted off Smriti Mandhana’s helmet at forward short leg and ballooned for Shafali Verma to catch it at leg slip. The bizarre dismissal left at 126/5 in the 30th over.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was batting on a run-a-ball 35 at lunch, slowed down a bit and completed her half-century off 63 balls (8×4) as wickets continued to tumble at the other end. England lost their last five wickets for 10 runs to concede a huge lead.
India then rubbed salt into the wounds as they extended their lead beyond 400 runs, setting England the biggest chase in the history of women’s cricket.
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. Though Shafali scored her first run off the 11th ball she faced, she scored 33 off 53 balls, studded with two boundaries and two maximums. dean got her as she walked down the pitch to try and lift the left-arm spinner over long-on but only managed to give Ecclestone catching practice.
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.
With debutante Shubha Satheesh doubtful to bat after she suffered a hairline fracture, it was practically seven wickets down for India.
Brief scores:
At Stumps, Day 2: India 428 all out in 104.3 overs & 186/6 in 42 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 44 not out, Shafali Verma 33; Charlie Dean 4-68) lead England Women 136 all out in 35.3 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 59, Deepti Sharma 5-7, Sneh Rana 2-25) by 478 runs.
