England women v India women, only Test: Bowlers dominate closely contested opening day
Indian eves ended day 1 of the only Test match against England eves on 87/6 after bowling the home team out for 92 runs in just 41.2 overs at St Paul Getty’s Ground, Wormsley, England.
Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, the visitors made full use of the supportive conditions, with pace bowler Nagarajan Niranjana running through the top order, picking up 4 wickets, while others supported her well to dismiss England for a paltry score. Home captain Sarah Taylor top scored with a 42-ball 30, one of only 3 players to reach double digits, with the other two being Tammy Beaumont (12 off 37) and Natalie Sciver (10 off 34).
The Mithali Raj-led side, in return, got off to a encouraging start, putting up a 40-run partnership for the first wicket; Jenny Gunn, though, drew the first blood when she got the better of Thirush Kamini, who had scored a 56-ball 17.
The 28-year-old wasn’t done, yet, as she reduced the Indian side from 40-0 to 64-6, accounting for 4 of them; it looked like the home team will get away with a disappointing batting performance, and do so with a lead, but the seventh wicket partnership between Jhulan Goswami (13* off 68) and Niranjana (13* off 51) saved face for the Indian side by not just lasting 17.3 more overs to see off the day but also cut down on the lead.
For a side that finally managed to play a Test match after 7 years, Indian women’s team would be satisfied with the way things turned out for them and will be looking forward to continue the good work and repeat their 2006 heroics in the same country, where they pulled off an unexpected 1-0 win against hosts in a two-match Test-series. Pace bowler Goswami, captain Mithali Raj and wicket-keeper Karu Jain are the only ones who have managed to hang around from the 2006 team.