Key events
WICKET! Mady Villiers b Rana 10 (England 159-8)
Anything you can do… Mady Villiers is bowled through the gate by a beauty from Rana! This one came down the slope but was so similar in flight and turn to the one Villiers herself snared Harmanpreet with yesterday. Too good.
50th over: England 159-7 (Villiers 10, Wong 0) Issy Wong joins Mady Villiers, England are starring down the barrel of a sizeable first innings deficit…
WICKET! Sophie Ecclestone c Bhatia b Satghare 11 (England 159-7)
Ecclestone bunts Satghare through cover for four and then tries to repeat the shot to the next but edges behind!
49th over: England 155-6 (Villiers 10, Ecclestone 7) Stand by your beds…
48th over: England 152-6 (Villiers 9, Ecclestone 5) Ecclestone squiffs an inside edge into the leg side, its the only run off the over, the fifth wicket eluding Gaud so far.
47th over: England 151-6 (Villiers 9, Ecclestone 4) Sharma rattles through another, she’s gone for just seven runs off six overs so far. DumDumDumDumDumDumDum. Pressure.
46th over: England 149-6 (Villiers 8, Ecclestone 3) England chip away in bright sunshine at Lord’s.
Geoff Lemon
45th over: England 144-6 (Villiers 6, Ecclestone 0) Deepti Sharma once again with players all around the bat, Ecclestone takes a quick single into the off side to get off the mark. Villiers punches through the covers for another single.
In Southampton, erm Geoff Lemon is twiddling his thumbs on the OBO of the fifth T20I between England and India:
Start delayed
This is a comical one. The start of this match will be delayed. Not because of rain, not because of lightning. Not because of bees. Not because of stray crossbow bolts. No, the start of this match will be delayed because of… traffic.
The Indian bus is stuck in traffic, and the players couldn’t get to the ground in time.
Who would have predicted that the cricket ground nestled between two motorways, miles outside of the nearest town, with no reasonable means of getting there by public transport, would have problems with traffic?
Ah well, good thing there’s an Ashes Test scheduled there next year, no doubt that will go swimmingly.
44th over: England 144-6 (Villiers 6, Ecclestone 0) Gaud keeps the pressure on with a maiden.
43rd over: England 144-6 (Villiers 6, Ecclestone 0) Two off Sharma’s next over, I wonder if Ecclestone might open the shoulders here and try to chip off some valuable runs from this deficit. There are so many gaps in the field with numerous fielders crowded close to the bat.
42nd over: England 142-6 (Villiers 5, Ecclestone 0) Oh my days! Sophie Ecclestone is in at number 8 and she swishes at her first ball outside off stump! Gaud has four and is targeting five and more. England are in the mire, they still trail by 143 runs.
WICKET! Nat Sciver-Brunt lbw b Gaud 44 (England 142-6)
That is stone dead! Nat Sciver-Brunt burns a review in hope but this was never anything but OUT. Gaud gets one to nip back off the pitch and it beats the inside edge and smashes into the front pad in front of middle! India start the session with a huge wicket!
41st over: England 138-5 (Sciver-Brunt 40, Villiers 5) Sciver-Brunt takes a single off the final ball of the first over back, a lot resting on the captain’s shoulders this afternoon.
The players head back out after their Lord’s luncheon. Not jealous at all. Deepti Sharma is going to start with the ball, India hunting wickets and a first innings lead.
Hello to m’colleague Tom Davies who writes in after a day at Lord’s yesterday:
“It was a joy (helped by being in shade and not having to slap on factor 50 every couple of hours). Proper ebb-and-flow Test cricket watched by a mixed and appreciative crowd who were all there to watch the game, as opposed to the performative champagne cork-popping socialites who too often clog up men’s Tests at Lord’s.”
I’m fist bumping the screen Tom.
It’s been ebb and flow this morning too, India taking three early wickets before Amy Jones and Nat-Sciver Brunt batted well for an hour and a half to stem the bleeding and get England past the follow on. Jones fell just after reaching fifty though and England still have plenty to do to get on level footing in this match.
I’m off for a sandwich and, by the looks of it, to have my face painted by an (im)patient five year old. Wish me luck.
Lunch: England 137-5 (trail by 148 runs)
India crowd the bat and ramp up the tension, good drama this on the cusp of lunch. Villiers glides away for a couple to get her first runs in Test cricket. Another fielder summoned to get into the action, four fielders around the bat now. Villiers and Sciver-Brunt exchange singles and make it through. Phew. An absorbing session comes to a close.
39th over: England 137-5 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Villiers 5)
39th over: England 131-5 (Sciver-Brunt 37, Villiers 0) Hearts in mouths around Lord’s and beyond as Sharma turns one into Sciver-Brunt’s pads and they send it upstairs despite the umpire giving a shake of the head. Missing! India lose a review and England breathe a sigh of relief. A tense maiden from Deepti, one to go before the lunch break.
38th over: England 131-5 (Sciver-Brunt 37, Villiers 0) Mady Villiers joins Sciver-Brunt, England trail by 154 runs, a crucial couple of overs before lunch coming up.
WICKET! Amy Jones c Ghosh b Rana 52 (England 131-5)
Nooooo! Amy Jones does not kick on, she gets caught between front and back foot as Rana gets one to bounce off a lenght, the inside edge is clipped and Ghosh takes a simple catch at short leg. India have their fourth wicket of the morning just before lunch.
37th over: England 130-4 (Sciver-Brunt 37, Jones 52) Now then! Sciver-Brunt blocks out three dots to Charani but then decides enough is enough and hoicks her into the stands on the leg side for SIX!
36th over: England 123-4 (Sciver-Brunt 30, Jones 52) Jones gets an outside edge down to deep third and they come back for three, that’s fifty for Amy Jones and a crucial knock that has restored some stability to England’s innings. She needs to go on.
35th over: England 118-4 (Sciver-Brunt 28, Jones 49) Jones moves to the cusp of fifty with a slightly sketchy loft over mid on for a couple. My heart was in my mouth there, she did not middle that one.
34th over: England 114-4 (Sciver-Brunt 28, Jones 47) Just a couple off Rana.
33rd over: England 114-4 (Sciver-Brunt 27, Jones 46) Eeeesht! Amy Jones gets away with a slog sleep that ploops in between three converging fielders. No need Amy! She puts it out of her mind though and pings the next ball wonderfully through mid on for four.
32nd over: England 103-4 (Sciver-Brunt 27, Jones 38) Three singles picked up with ease, the difference between the first hour and the second has been marked. Hmmm Deepti is given a breather after just one over, here comes Charani.
31st over: England 103-4 (Sciver-Brunt 26, Jones 36) Deepti Sharma is tossed the ball for her first ball of the Test, Sciver-Brunt uses her feet to a couple and looks to be positive but she can’t beat the ring. Sharma starts with a maiden.
30th over: England 103-4 (Sciver-Brunt 26, Jones 36) Jones punches two into the off side. Apologies for the brief updates, I’m currently wrestling a wifi router and a five year old who keeps trying to paint my face.
29th over: England 101-4 (Sciver-Brunt 26, Jones 34) Sciver-Brunt sweeps Rana for two to bring up England’s hundred to warm applause, this pair are doing a decent repair job.
Are you at Lord’s today or went along yesterday? Do drop me a line if so.
28th over: England 99-4 (Sciver-Brunt 24, Jones 34) Apologies my wifi just went AWOL but I kept a beady eye on things. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones progress without alarm and push England towards three figures.
25th over: England 88-4 (Sciver-Brunt 21, Jones 26) Careful! Sciver-Brunt top edges a sweep from Rana and it just falls short of Deol running in from the square leg boundary. NSB tries another sweep and gets it around the corner for a couple. Shot! Amy Jones uses her feet to come down the track and lifts over cover for four. England punching back. One hour done, time for a drink.
24th over: England 79-4 (Sciver-Brunt 20, Jones 18) Spin from both ends now with Charani back into the attack. Amy Jones carves for four past point, the sub fielder on the boundary making a Horlicks of the dive. England just beginning to look a bit more settled after the tumble of wickets early on.
23rd over: England 74-4 (Sciver-Brunt 19, Jones 14) Sneh Rana comes on for her first bowl and finds some big turn right away! England collect seven runs off the over but they are from outside and inside edges. Its only the morning of day two, with more sun and more action this pitch is going to turn big.
22nd over: England 67-4 (Sciver-Brunt 15, Jones 11) Amy Jones certainly looks in fine fettle with the bat, Gaud drops short and is dismissed on the pull through the leg side.
21st over: England 60-4 (Sciver-Brunt 14, Jones 5) Amy Jones is such a talented cricketer but my personal opinion is that I always want her to show some more ticker, more grit. Her side need her to stand up here, there’s a big platform for her to show the world what she can do. That’s the stuff – she drives Satghare through the covers for four as I type.
20th over: England 56-4 (Sciver-Brunt 14, Jones 1) Gaud digs one in short but Sciver-Brunt pounces in a flash and pulls for four. Gaud goes back to plan A and beats NSB with a beauty that wobbles away at the last second.
Lovely this from Stephen Nicholls in the OBO mailbag:
“Hello! I was at Lord’s yesterday, and it seemed to be both a completely normal Test at Lord’s, and a very unusual one. The first champagne cork popped the moment the first over was complete; the crowd was a mix of cricket badgers watching earnestly and listening to the commentary and people dressed in their finery chatting in the sunshine with friends; we politely clapped 4s and wickets, and the mixed crowd of India and England fans enthusiastically cheered for our own side. The cricket was great, with ups and downs for both sides.
But I’ve never seen fireworks and flame throwers before a test match, nor the massed ranks of England players from the past gathered before the match to collectively ring the 10-minute bell. Walking round the ground, you could spot plenty of England greats mingling with the fans. Lord’s and MCC seemed to be trying to right a wrong from years past. And Sophie Ecclestone became England’s leading wicket-taker in her first Test at the ground. An unusual day – I’m looking forward to women’s Tests at Lord’s becoming usual.”
19th over: England 51-4 (Sciver-Brunt 10, Jones 0) The mind wanders briefly as to whether India will enforce the follow on should it come to it… England still have Sciver-Brunt as a mast to cling to, she drives a full ball down the ground for four to take England past fifty.
18th over: England 47-4 (Sciver-Brunt 6, Jones 0) The camera pans to a glum looking Charlotte Edwards, penny for ‘em… Amy Jones joins Sciver-Brunt and blocks out the final two balls of the over. A wicket maiden for Kranti Gaud who now has 3-13.
Capsey didn’t cover the line of the ball with her pads and played inside the line, the ball was still fantastic but the technical deficiency was exploited by Gaud.
WICKET! Alice Capsey b Gaud 9 (England 47-4)
Off stump out of the ground! Capsey is beaten all ends up by a ball that slants in and then decks away late! England in real strife!
17th over: England 47-3 (Sciver-Brunt 6, Capsey 9) Shot! Sciver-Brunt laces a cut through point and the crowd purr.
16th over: England 43-3 (Sciver-Brunt 2, Capsey 9) Capsey whips a full ball off her pads for four, the runs will certainly flow while she is at the crease but can England build an innings and bat the day?
15th over: England 38-3 (Sciver-Brunt 1, Capsey 5 ) Alice Capsey joins Sciver-Brunt in the middle with a rebuild job needed. Her first ball jags bag at the pads and she is fortunate to get an inside edge on it to tickle away for four runs. India have been on the money this morning, much more accurate than England’s seamers in the first 10-15 overs yesterday and they are reaping the rewards.
WICKET! Heather Knight lbw b Satghare 6 (England 32-3)
Huge wicket! Knight is done by one that moves up the hill and the umpire raises the finger! Knight reviews but she looks like she already knows her fate. Sure enough it is Umpires Call on the DRS and Knight has to go. England in strife!
14th over: England 32-2 (Knight 6, Sciver-Brunt 0) Nat Sciver-Brunt joins Heather Knight, but not for long because…
WICKET! Maia Bouchier c Bhatia b Gaud 23 (England 32-3)
Oh that is a nothing shot from Bouchier, she hangs the bat out to one that moves away from Gaud and it is neither one thing nor t’other. The edge is taken and India have their first of the day. Bouchier looks crestfallen, she didn’t commit to attack or defence.
13th over: England 32-1 (Bouchier 23, Knight 6) Sayali Satghare from the Pavilion End. Not a lot of bounce from her medium pacers but she does have a short leg in place. Bouchier drives a full ball down the ground for four, both batters have played doozies already this morning.
12th over: England 27-1 (Bouchier 18, Knight 6) Ah that is lovely from Heather Knight, she leans languidly on the first ball of the day and guides it through cover for four runs. Delightful start for England, they need a few decent partnerships on what is clearly a batting day with the mercury set to nudge 30 degree. There is spin there for India though and the pitch is only going to get drier. A single each to Bouchier and Knight makes it six off the fist over of the day.
Lord’s does indeed look a picture, the Pavilion looks stuffed and they are expecting a larger crowd than the 10,763 that watched yesterday. Maia Bouchier and Heather Knight head out to the middle. Shree Charani is going to start with the ball, let’s play!
I’m pulling a double shift today (they say nurses have it tough) so will be very glad of your thoughts, theories, company and correspondence throughout the day.
Catch up on all the action from day one:
And have a read of Raf’s scene setter:
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to day two of the Women’s Test match from Lord’s. It’s Saturday and the sun is belting down its rays on St John’s Wood.
England will start the day on 21-1 trailing India by 264 runs after an action packed and historic first day. Mady Villiers has just been talking through her wonderful wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur which was a great moment on the stroke of tea, the big dog bowled through the gate and up the hill from the Test debutant. Scenes.
Spin played a big role on day one, with Sophie Ecclestone and Villiers sharing five wickets between them and the former becoming England’s highest wicket-taker across formats. Despite all that the late wicket of Tammy Beaumont probably shaded the day in the visitors favour despite stumbling from 190-3 to 285 all out in the afternoon.
The crowd are streaming in for what should be a cracking day of cricket, the home side need to bat and bat and bat some more. Play starts at 11am. Join us!