The opening day of the first women’s Test match at Lord’s started with a nod to the historical injustice of the long, slow journey to reach this moment – a group of former women players, denied the chance themselves to play a Test at the home of cricket, given the chance to ring a ceremonial bell on the outfield marking five minutes before the start of play. There were more than a few tears shed in the Long Room before play even started.
The day ended with India bowled out for 285, England 21 for one, and this match poised for an intriguing second day.
The tourists had been in the driving seat at 190 for three, after being asked to bat: Smriti Mandhana combined slog-sweeping Sophie Ecclestone for six with her classical cover drive; Harmanpreet Kaur punished every bad ball, patiently defending the rest; Deepti Sharma almost ran herself out, and failed to shield India’s tail-enders by farming the strike, but nevertheless scored the third half-century of the day. But no one quite nailed down the big innings: none of the three will have their name carved on the Lord’s honours board, and the 300-plus total which had looked on the cards did not quite materialise.
This was a day to remember for Ecclestone, who – promoted from slip fielder to England’s ball-shiner-in-chief – sent down 20 fruitless overs but then took three wickets in six balls to wrap up India’s innings. Along the way, she overtook Katherine Sciver-Brunt as the leading wicket-taker of all time for England (current tally 337 in all formats), and led England off the field to a standing ovation from the 10,000-strong crowd.
India had dominated the morning session, rattling along at almost five an over, but England fought back after lunch. Issy Wong had enjoyed extra time for red-ball prep ahead of this match, after failing to win a spot in any of England’s World Cup matches despite being in the squad.
It clearly worked in her favour: her afternoon spell from the Pavilion End beat both sides of Harmanpreet’s bat, before finally accounting for Smriti Mandhana, nipping one away from the left-hander who edged through to the keeper.
Wong later said: “Me and Lauren Filer, we feel like we’ve been building towards this match for a while. With the way the World Cup went, all the girls that played did so well – it gave us the opportunity to get the red ball in hand and bowl some longer spells. It felt really good to be out there, because it feels like we really put in the yards over the last couple of weeks.”
However, it was debutant Mady Villiers who sent down the ball of the day to Kaur. India’s captain had twice received treatment from the physio, and was seemingly struggling with both a hand injury and hamstring troubles. In the final over before tea, she tried to drive Villiers through the covers, only for the off-spinner’s wonder-ball to turn back in sharply and bowl her.
India’s collapse in the evening session was swift: their final five wickets lost for the addition of 83 runs. England were then left with a tricky 45 minutes left to bat, and India claimed the key scalp of Tammy Beaumont, trapped leg-before by a Kranti Gaud inswinger. It remains to be seen if that will be her final innings for England.
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England’s best hope of a win from here is probably to bat long, and hope they can bowl India out cheaply in their second innings. Either way, one senses India are now in the driving seat: no team has ever lost a women’s Test after scoring more than 282 in the first innings.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, on winning the toss, had made the same decision as Rachael Heyhoe Flint had done 50 years ago: field first. It was an unconventional decision but suggested England’s determination to win this Test: taking 20 wickets in a four-day match is an easier ask if you start with ball in hand. It gave Lauren Bell the chance to make history by sending down the first ball in a women’s Test at Lord’s; though it was Lauren Filer who had the honour of taking the first wicket, charging in from the nursery end in a spell which topped 79mph and had Shafali Verma nicking off in the second over. In turn, Bell got in on the act with a beauty of a ball which first swung in and then seamed away to bowl Yastika Bhatia.
Wong said: “As a group we love Test cricket, and we want more in the calendar.” If anyone had questioned whether the match would live up to the billing on this historic day for women’s cricket, here was proof of why this format is such a treasured one.