Rating the performances of India Women stars in the one-off Test against England Women
India Women drew their only Test match against England Women in the 2021 English summer. The home side won the toss and elected to bat first at Bristol's County Ground.
Half-centuries from Heather Knight, Sophia Dunkley and Tammy Beaumont guided England Women to 396/9 in their first innings. In reply, India Women's openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana stitched up an epic partnership of 167 runs for the first wicket.
However, India Women suffered a collapse after the first wicket fell. England Women bowled them out for just 231 runs and enforced a follow-on. It seemed like England Women would win the game after they reduced India Women to 199/7, but a superb batting performance from the lower middle-order ensured that the match ended in a stalemate.
There were some outstanding knocks from the Indian batswomen in the one-off Test against England Women. In this article, we rate (out of 10) their performances.
(Note: Specialist bowlers are not part of this list.)
How did India Women's batters fare in the one-off Test?
Shafali Verma - 9.5/10
Shafali Verma won the Player of the Match award on her Test debut. The 17-year-old created a new record for the most sixes by a batter (3) in women's Test cricket history.
Verma missed out on her maiden Test ton by just four runs in the first innings. She followed it up with a 83-ball 63 in the second innings. Shafali will look forward to continuing in the same vein in the upcoming games.
Smriti Mandhana - 8/10
Smriti Mandhana was part of the highest opening partnership in Indian women's Test cricket history during the first innings. She scored 78 runs from 155 balls and supported Shafali Verma brilliantly.
However, in the second innings, Smriti got out before touching double digits. She will try to up her game in the white-ball matches.
Punam Raut - 5/10
Unlike Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut looked to play a little more defensively. She managed only two runs off 31 balls in the first innings, but Raut scored 39 runs in the second innings.
The 31-year-old batter will look to score big the next time India Women play a Test match.