India left England with a mountain to climb after a commanding day two of the standalone Women’s Test at Lord’s.
The hosts were bowled out for 170 following dramatic middle-order collapses and a relentless display from India’s bowlers, while the tourists then moved to 154 for 1 by stumps to lead by 269.
England’s first innings unravelled after a promising start of 21 for 1. Two telling mini-collapses — of 3 for 15 and later 6 for 39 — and a decisive five-wicket performance from Kranti Gaud saw England lose their top order and ultimately their grip on the match. Amy Jones (52) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (44) steadied the innings with a fifth-wicket stand of 84, but Jones’ dismissal at short leg sparked a second collapse that England could not arrest.
Gaud’s five-for was clinched in spectacular fashion when Shafali Verma took a stunning low catch at slip to complete the wicket. Sneh Rana also contributed with two key wickets, Sayali Satghare chipped in with two, and Deepti Sharma picked up the last wicket to finish England’s innings.
Earlier, India posted 285 in their first innings. Smriti Mandhana led the scoring with 83, Harmanpreet Kaur made 58 and Deepti Sharma contributed a crucial 57. England’s Sophie Ecclestone (3-68) and a trio of seamers — Lauren Filer (2-40), Issy Wong (2-41) and Mady Villiers (2-79) — shared the wickets, but could not prevent India from setting a strong total.
In their second innings India built on that advantage. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on 88 for the first wicket, and after Verma was dismissed, Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia added an unbeaten 66 to close the day. Mandhana finished on 69 not out, with Bhatia 39 not out, leaving India firmly in control with nine wickets in hand and plenty of batting left to come.
A crowd of 15,243 — a record for a day of a Women’s Test — watched India assert control with both bat and ball. England were second-best across most departments: their seam attack showed patches of promise, notably Lauren Bell, who bowled 11 overs with five maidens and conceded just 16 runs, but they struggled to find consistent answers to India’s disciplined bowling and smart batting tactics.
England now face a near-impossible task if they are to chase down what looks set to be a very large target. The current highest successful chase in Women’s Tests is 198 (Australia vs England, 2011), and with India having so much batting depth still available, that target could balloon further.
Day three begins with India heavily favoured to secure back-to-back Test wins over England — their last victory in the format came in a 347-run win in Navi Mumbai in December 2023. The match resumes on Sunday with India in the driving seat.