India are poised for victory in their Test at Lord’s after reducing England to 130 for six in their second innings, having spent the first two sessions of the day batting them out of the game.
Yastika Bhatia became the first woman to score a century in a Lord’s Test, as India piled on the runs across the morning and afternoon sessions before declaring on 341 for seven, with England needing 327 runs to win. Yastika underwent anterior cruciate ligament surgery last year, and the wicketkeeper had to rebuild her leg muscles from scratch; here was just reward for months of hard rehab.
In reply, Tammy Beaumont’s fairytale ending turned into a horror story when Kranti Gaud bowled her for a golden duck and Heather Knight, who announced her own retirement on Saturday evening, flicked a catch up to Richa Ghosh at short leg for 13. In both cases, the Indian fielders quickly assembled for a guard of honour to see two of England’s greats off the pitch, but it was scant consolation as England found themselves 59 for five and staring down the barrel.
There was spirited resistance from Mady Villiers, who faced 63 balls for her 26 runs before her attempted drive somehow stuck in the hands of Ghosh under the lid at silly mid-off. Meanwhile Amy Jones, having successfully reviewed a leg-before decision to Sneh Rana when on 34, brought up a second half-century of the match minutes before the close, remaining unbeaten on 52 and ensuring this match will – just about – go into a fourth day.
The only bright spot for England on a torrid day was the performance of Sophie Ecclestone, who toiled away without a break for the entire first two sessions, as usual bearing the brunt of England’s bowling load. After trapping Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma lbw, and tempting Yastika down the track to be caught at extra cover, she skidded one into the stumps of Rana and was rewarded with her own slice of history. Five wickets in the innings means she will become the first woman on the Test honours board in the home dressing room.
After Knight’s decision to “do a Ben Stokes” and announce her retirement mid-Test, the electronic hoarding boards at Lord’s had been updated overnight: Knight led the England team out on to the field on Sunday morning with flashes of “Thank you Heather Knight” alongside the “Thank you Tammy Beaumont” ones which had taken pride of place on the previous day.
Knight had known for the past three months that this would be her last match for England, but decided during the tea break on Saturday that she would make the decision public on the evening of day two. “It just felt like the right time,” she told the BBC. “I grabbed Tammy [Beaumont] and apologised for stealing her thunder just as we were leaving the pitch, and told Nat [Sciver-Brunt] then too.”
For someone who has been such a passionate advocate for women’s Test cricket, it seemed like curious timing when England really needed to focus on saving this match. Perhaps, after conceding a deficit of 115 on first innings, it had felt like a way to galvanise her teammates; perhaps someone who had served England so prolifically for 16 years felt she had earned the right to decide her own timings? Either way, such was India’s dominance on day three that the announcement proved academic to the final result.
The morning session had involved India gradually extending their lead, although they looked in no hurry, content to take the easy singles available. By lunch, they were 365 ahead, but Kaur chose to extend England’s misery and bat on for another full session, allowing Ghosh to rattle along to a run-a-ball 50 before finally calling a halt.
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England did take wickets: Lauren Bell bowled the kind of spell which, had she delivered it on the morning of day one, might have resulted in a different match outcome. She could have seen off Yastika with the very first ball of the day: it clipped the top of offstump, but the bails remained stubbornly in place.
Instead, she cut short the innings of another honours-board hopeful, Smriti Mandhana, who edged behind on 70. Jones immediately approached the square leg umpire, indicating that she was unsure if she had taken the catch cleanly, but it was ruled good by the TV official and Smriti – already walking off – continued up the steps and through the Long Room.
Four overs later Bell nipped one back in to Jemimah Rodrigues and bowled her, but left the field soon afterwards with abdominal soreness and never returned. The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that she will be fit to bat on Monday; even so, any hope of England clinging on for a draw seems remote, to say the least.
