India Women suffered a collapse after an outstanding start from openers in the first innings and were bundled out for 231. England Women did not hesitate to enforce the follow-on but Shafali Verma once again stood like a rock with a sublime unbeaten fifty.
Day 3 of the one-off Test between England Women and India Women was mostly affected by the weather as only half the overs could be bowled due to the rain. England will still be the happier side, who have found themselves in a position to force a result after enforcing the follow-on.
India Women started the day on 187/5 with Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma at the crease. But the collapse continued as India copped a blow in the second over of the day with Kaur getting trapped LBW on 4 against left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone. Originally given not-out, England took an excellent review to overturn the decision. Ecclestone dismissed Taniya Bhatia (0) and Sneh Rana (2) in quick succession to reduce India to 197-8.
A late partnership between Deepti Sharma (29*) and Pooja Vastrakar (12) took India past 230 but fell 15 runs short of avoiding the follow-on. Anya Shrubsole wrapped things up for England by cleaning up Jhulan Goswami on 1. Shafali Verma top-scored for India with 96, while Ecclestone was the standout bowler for England in India’s first innings, returning with the figures of 4/88.
Trailing by 165 runs, India needed a big start once again from their dynamic opening duo of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. Both the openers came out with an aggressive intent and got India off to 29-0 in just 4.2 overs. But Mandhana failed to repeat her first innings heroics this time as she fell cheaply for just 8 runs after nicking a Katherine Brunt delivery to the second slip as India entered Lunch on Day 3 with 29-1 on the scoreboard.
In the post-lunch session, it came as a bit of a surprise as Punam Raut did not walk out to bat at no. 3. Deepti Sharma, who showed good resilience with her bat in the first innings with an unbeaten 29 off 73 balls, was promoted in the batting order. However, Verma kept on going at the other end in her natural aggressive style of stroke playing and reached her second Test fifty on debut. The 17-year-old sensation displayed her wide range, including lofted shots and glides through the point region, to which England bowlers had no answers.
On a day that had frequent stop-starts due to rain, only 45.5 overs were managed to be bowled. The Indian batters ended Day 3 on 83-1 with Shafali Verma batting on 55* of 68 balls and Deepti Sharma hanging on at the other end on 18* off 66 balls. Team India’s chances on the final day will hugely depend on their teenage debutant, who has had a dream time in the middle so far. India would hope that Verma, along with Deepti, goes on to score big on the final day of the Test.
At the end of the day, England Women would be slightly frustrated due to the rain interruptions, which have given India a real chance of drawing the Test. However, given India’s poor middle order and the collapse in the first innings, England should fancy getting the desired result if the weather Gods allow enough playtime.
Brief Scores
England 396/9 decl (Knight 95, Beaumont 66, Dunkley 74*, Rana 4/131, Deepti 3/65)
India 231 (Verma 96, Mandhana 78, Ecclestone 4/88, Knight 2/7)
India 83/1 (Verma 55*, Deepti 18*, Brunt 1/21) trailing by an innings and 82 runs.
