Indian Women's Cricket Team Beat England by 347 Runs in a One-off Test
Navi Mumbai: Indian players pose with the trophy after winning the one-off Test cricket match against England, at DY Patil Stadium, in Navi Mumbai, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. PTI Photo/Kunal Patil
The Indian women's cricket team successfully beat their English counterparts by 347 runs in a one-off test held at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Indian allrounder Deepti Sharma was the star of the show with an impressive nine-wicket haul in the match. The nine-wicket showing includes a fifer in the first innings. The 347-run victory by India is the biggest margin in the history of women's Tests. Before this, Sri Lanka's 309-run victory over Pakistan in Colombo in 1998 was the biggest margin.
The impressive feat at the DY Patil Stadium broke multiple records. It also marked India's first victory over English at home in 15 Tests.
Batting first, India scored 428 in the first innings, helped by half-centuries from several batters, including Sharma, who scored a 113-ball 67. In their reply, English batters were looking comfortable on the second day before Sharma's sensational spell of 5.3-4-7-5. England were bowled out for 136 on the second day. Rather than asking England to follow on, the Indian side scored quick runs, leading to Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur declaring the second innings when India were 186/6 at the end of the day's play on the second day, setting England a mammoth target of 479.
While England started better than their first innings, the English side fell short to some disciplined bowling by Indian bowlers. In its chase, the English side were bowled out for 131 in over 27 overs, giving the Indians a comfortable and commanding historic win.
Apart from Sharma, the Indian bowling stars on the third day included Pooja Vastrakar, who got a double strike in her first over. After dismissing Sophia Dunkley, who was looking unfazed in front of Indian pacers, Vastrakar got the prized wicket of Nat Sciver-Brunt. Sciver-Brunt, the pick of the English batters in the first innings, was bowled for a golden duck.
English captain Heather Knight tried to hold the English innings together with a brief partnership with Danny Wyatt, but the English batters did not have any answers for Indian bowlers.
"I was just waiting to bowl and keeping myself warmed up, got a lot of help from the wicket, and I backed myself. Harry Di (Harmanpreet) was saying to bowl in your areas, and the turn will help you. We want to continue this in the next Test," Sharma said after the match.
India is going to face Australia in another one-off Test the next week.
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
