England suffered their second heavy defeat at Lord’s in less than a week when India needed just 90 minutes to seal a 270-run victory on the final day of the historic first women’s Test at the ground.
Eight days after losing the Women’s T20 World Cup final to Australia by seven wickets, England were bowled out for 186 after posting a record 457 in their second innings.
Sophie Ecclestone (50), who was dropped for an eight and a sixteen and successfully overturned an lbw dismissal for 44, offered resilience and some crisp cover drives during her first international fifty before she was last out, bowled through the gate by a beautiful off-spinner from India.
Jones hacked Shah Rana over midwicket in the third over of the day.
The hosts resumed on 130-6, with Tammy Beaumont (0) and Heather Knight (13) among the previous evening’s dismissals as the pair played their final innings before international retirement.
Amy Jones (54) hacked Rana over midwicket in the third over of the day, adding just two runs to her overnight score, before Issy Wong (1) and Lauren Bell (0) were bowled by Deepti Sharma (2-36).
Rana then called the final as India wrapped up the match in front of legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Sophie Ecclestone scored her maiden international fifty, beating her previous best Test score of 35 against South Africa at Taunton in 2022.
England is now breaking international cricket for The Hundred. Sky Sports, July 21 to August 16 – before returning to action for three ODIs against Ireland in early September, with games at Leicester, Derby and Worcester.
India has bounced back from an early exit in the T20 World Cup.
India dominated the entire match at Lord’s, out-batting, out-bowling, and out-thinking their opponents, having now won four of their last five Tests, including a 347-run victory over England in New Mumbai in 2023.
India’s fast bowler Krantigad was a constant threat to England in the Lord’s Test.
England fought back with the ball on day one, as home spinner Ecclestone became his side’s highest wicket-taker across all formats, and an 84-run partnership between Jones and skipper Nat Skerritt Brent on the second morning was all over India.
The result was just a tonic for Harmanpreet Kaur’s team after their group stage exit in the T20 World Cup.
Two of their players inscribed their names on the Lord’s Test honours board – pacer Gowde for taking five wickets and batsman Yastika Bhatia for her century.
India’s Yastika Bhatia became the first woman to score a Test century at Lord’s, scoring 113 in the tourists’ second innings.
It was only a surprise that Smriti Mandhana couldn’t support them with the opener looking well set for centuries in each innings before falling to 83 and 70, respectively.
Ecclestone was the first English woman to join the Test honours board, courtesy of her second-innings five-wicket haul, and she also showed her batting prowess on the final morning.
England spinner Sophie Ecclestone took five wickets and registered her name on the Lord’s honours board.
Other highlights for the hosts included a promising Test debut for off-spinning all-rounder Maddy Villiers – deft with the ball, stubborn with the bat, and lively in the field – and twin half-centuries from Jones.
Given a lean T20 World Cup run, Jones’ knock at Lord’s probably ended any immediate questions about his place in the team, although both of his dismissals were incredibly soft.
Those plus points, though, are little consolation after such a heavy defeat, with England having not won a home Test since 2005.
Highlights from day three were England’s Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight going cheap on their international farewells.
Beaumont and the 2017 ODI World Cup-winning captain managed just 1 and 19 runs, respectively, in the night match, though that did not detract from the illustrious England career they have enjoyed for more than 15 years. England will now be without him.
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