Recent Match Report – India Women vs England Women Only Test 2023،
India 410 for 7 (Shubha 69, Rodrigues 68, Bhatia 66, Depti 60*, Bell 2-64) against England
Impressive debuts from two young players at opposite ends of the experience spectrum led India to an impressive first innings total on the first day of their Test against England.
Satheesh Shubha, representing her country for the first time, and Jemimah Rodrigues, playing her first Test after 113 white-ball appearances for India, both scored half-centuries on an accommodating pitch in Navi Mumbai as India posted 410 for 7, the second-highest. highest total by a team on the opening day of a women's Test behind England's 431 for 4 against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1935, having bowled out their opponents for 44.
Midway through the first evening session of the four-day match, the hosts' run rate had not gone below 4.5 per over. Yastika Bhatia and Deepti Sharma, with three Test caps between them before the match, also accumulated fifties and each played a part in key partnerships – Bhatia with Harmanpreet Kaur, who fell woefully short of her half-century in a strange but familiar journey. , and Deepti with Sneh Rana.
Shubha's selection came as a surprise. She barely played for Railways this season due to lack of opportunities after leaving Karnataka, but was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL. And the 24-year-old left-hander gave more than a glimpse of what her franchise can expect as she made 69 from 76 balls, going No. 3 with her team 25 for 1 after electing to bat.
Smriti Mandhana, dropped at 5 by Tammy Beaumont running from short leg to catch a top edge that ballooned straight to second over, managed just 17 before clipping her stumps to Lauren Bell. Kate Cross then sent Shafali Verma's stump cartwheeling with a delivery that went just wide enough to beat the bat, leaving India 47 for 2.
But then Shubha and Rodrigues settled into a 115-run partnership that not only stabilized the innings but allowed the home side to score at an impressive rate, with Rodrigues, 23, finding the gaps seemingly at will as Shubha seemed at home. When the latter easily clipped Cross through backward point, using the pace of the ball for one of his 13 fours, a half-century was just one more shot away. She produced this ball three times later, rolling so smoothly across the ground that it seemed like she had been doing this forever.
Heather Knight was unable to latch on to a strong chance down her right that would have given Sophie Ecclestone her first wicket of the match when Shubha was on 51. It was the last ball before lunch and the Indian duo continued from where they left off. after the break until Ecclestone broke through to remove Shubha, who picked out Nat Sciver-Brunt at short mid-wicket.
Rodrigues moved ahead, bringing up his fifty with the first of two fours in three balls, a magnificent off-drive from Bell. Consecutive boundaries off Ecclestone then followed for Rodrigues, driving through the covers and sweeping well, but she eventually fell to Bell in a moment of indecision that left her playing neither forward nor backward and bowled between the bat and the pad.
Bell dropped a sitter to let Bhatia go on 15, her top edge over Charlie Dean looping but passing through Bell's hands as she raced to mid-off. Bhatia and Harmanpreet's union for the fifth wicket remained unbroken on 71 at tea as India scored 125 runs in the afternoon session.
They bettered Shubha and Rodrigues' stand by just one off the same number of balls (146) before Harmanpreet was run out just when she should have been bowled to bring up her half-century. After pushing the ball towards the covers, she got going but had to turn back. As Danni Wyatt hit straight at the stumps with an underarm delivery, Harmanpreet's bat got stuck in the pitch just before his crease. The dismissal went from bizarre to ignominious given that she was similarly dismissed during India's T20 World Cup semi-final loss to Australia in February.
Bhatia produced some wonderful drives and reinforced her authority in the innings with the first six of the match, pulling Lauren Filer to backward square leg to bring up her fifty. But Bell made up for her earlier mistake when she held a catch at mid-off to give Dean the wicket she should have had earlier and send Bhatia on her way.
Rana was immediately off the mark, spinning Dean through a fine leg-spin for four off the next ball and she settled into a 92-run partnership with Deepti, who produced nine fours and an emphatic six off Ecclestone on a long distance. England's bowlers lacked penetration and their fielders must have regretted these missed opportunities. Then, Deepti brought up her third fifty in as many Test matches with a four off Bell via square leg late in the day.
That was before Sciver-Brunt tore the stump out of Rana's leg and Pooja Vastrakar negotiated a tense final against Ecclestone as the opening day of India's first women's Test since 2014 and the first of England's spell on these shores since 2005 ended largely in the home team's favor.
