As the Indian women’s cricket team secured a record-breaking victory in the one-off Test match against England on December 16, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side ticked all the right boxes in Navi Mumbai.
India beat England by a massive 347-run margin on Day 3. This is the biggest victory ever recorded in terms of margin in women’s Test cricket.
The world record victory was no co-incidence as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur had earlier said that the team was well prepared for the challenge and were looking to put their best foot forward going into the Test match.
The home team players didn’t disappoint in any phase of the match and continued to produce quality performances on all three days.
Players who starred for India
Put to bat first on Day 1, it wasn’t openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma who gave India a good start. In fact, it was the next two batters, Satheesh Shubha (69) and Jemimah Rodrigues (68) who started putting runs on the board in what looked like an aggressive approach from the Indians.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (49) missing out on her half century due to a freak run-out was just a blip in the proceedings as Yastika Bhatia (66) and Deepti Sharma (67) who steered the team to a massive total of 428 runs. The mammoth total was just the second time a women’s Test side had scored a 400+ score which added another record in India’s list.
The bowlers too stepped up to the task and raised the heat on English batters courtesy of an amazing fifer from spinner Deepti Sharma who finished her spell at 7/5 in 5.3 overs.
Sneh Rana also supported the cause with 2 scalps to her name which bundled England out at just 136 on Day 2.
The players didn’t stop there with the ball as England who were chasing a challenging target of 479 on day 3, witnessed their batting lineup decimate at just 131.
Deepti Sharma again led the bowling line up with a 4-fer while Pooja Vastrakar picked up a 3-fer herself.
The right step for women’s Cricket
Harmanpreet Kaur’s aim to take Indian women’s cricket to another looked well on track with the kind of display her side came forward with. The one-off Test victory won’t just get them more playing time in the future but will also be motivational for youngster hoping to make a career out of the sport in the near future.
