History made: India beat England in first women’s Test at Lord’s

India beat England to claim a historic victory in the first-ever women’s Test match at Lord’s. Dominant performance India were the better side across the match and won convincingly, “crushing” England. This was the first women’s Test played at Lord’s, and India came away with the win to mark the occasion. The result gives India a landmark Test victory in England and sets the tone for women’s red-ball cricket at the Home of Cricket. Amy Jones added just two more runs to her over night score of 52 before she picked out Shafali Verma at midwicket on the 18th ball of the fourth day, giving Rana her third wicket for the innings and exposing the England tail. On Sunday, India had asked England to chase a mammoth 457 runs in the fourth innings, thanks largely to Yastika Bhatia's century which put her on the Lord's Test batting honours board, alongside team-mate Kranti Gaud, who had already inked her name on the bowler's board on day two. She reached her fifty off 61 balls but saw off only four more deliveries before she fell, failing to keep out one that dropped and turned between bat and pad to rattle the stumps. Lauren Filer, who picked up the fist wicket of this match, remained unbeaten, having faced 22 balls for a solitary boundary. Deepti Sharma broke through again late on day 3, while Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont had disappointing send-offs in England’s second innings. Bell out cheaply after injury scare Lauren Bell came out to bat despite abdominal soreness that kept her off the field for much of India’s innings on day 3. She didn’t last long — Deepti bowled her through the gate 7 balls after her previous wicket, clipping the top of off stump. Former captain Heather Knight and opener Tammy Beaumont announced their international retirements before the match. But both fell cheaply in England’s second innings: Knight for 13 and Beaumont for a golden duck. Deepti claimed 2 wickets in quick succession, adding to England’s troubles as they batted again on day 3. Gaud's 5 for 37 then restricted England to a 115-run deficit on first innings before Bhatia put the match beyond reach with her 113, well supported by Richa Ghosh's unbeaten fifty and another half-century from Mandhana. Gaud and fellow seamer Sayali Satghare made early inroads, splitting four wickets between them on the third evening and Rana also picked up two on the third day. India 285 (Mandhana 83, Harmanpreet 58, Deepti 57) and 341 for 7 dec. (Bhatia 113, Mandhana 70, Richa 50*, Ecclestone 5-118) beat England 170 (Jones 52, Gaud 5-37) and 186 (Jones 54, Ecclestone 50, Rana 4-42) by 270 runs