India have won the first women’s Test match ever staged at Lord’s, bowling England out for 186 shortly before lunch on the final day to seal a crushing 270-run victory.
According to ESPNcricinfo’s match report, England resumed on Monday morning chasing a record 457, with Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone offering the last serious resistance. The Associated Press reports India’s spinners needed only 95 minutes to finish the job, off-spinner Sneh Rana taking 4-42 — six wickets in the match — and fittingly bowling Ecclestone for 50 to spark the celebrations.
Jones top-scored with 54 on a morning when England’s fight came far too late, the hosts never recovering from a first-innings deficit of 115.
Sneh Rana Spins India To Historic Lord’s Victory
India’s platform was built on totals of 285 and 341 for 7 declared, with Smriti Mandhana making 83 and 70 and Yastika Bhatia’s 113 making her the first woman to score a Test century at the ground. Kranti Gaud had already claimed the first women’s five-wicket haul at Lord’s, and by Sunday evening India had England cornered with only history left to complete.
The Associated Press notes the margin stands as the fourth-largest by runs in women’s Test history, while Al Jazeera reports it is England’s fourth defeat in five Tests — a sobering backdrop to the final international appearances of Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont, who both retired at the close of the match.
For India, the landmark win caps a tour already rich in firsts — and it ensures the first women’s Test at the Home of Cricket belongs, emphatically, to them.
