India Women vs England Women: Key takeaways for India
England dominated most of the Test match, but the India Women's side found restraint and a lot of resolve to hold out for a draw. India Women's debutantes were brilliant in their maiden match and this denied England the chance to beat India for the first time in their backyard in the format.
England declared their innings on 396 for the loss of 9. India Women were bundled out for 231 and had to follow on. It was an uphill task for the Indians. After losing Deepti Sharma, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Punam Raut in quick succession, Sneh Rana stepped up in her maiden innings to see them to safety.
Here's a look at the key takeaways from this game for the India Women side
Shafali Verma is a star
This was a match where the debutants from the India Women side were absolutely brilliant. Shafali Verma displayed tremendous temperament and feel for Test cricket.
In the two innings for India Women, Shafali hit 96 and 63 and in the process, became the youngest woman to hit twin fifties on Test debut.
Against a highly-skilled England attack, Shafali batted for days two and three. Her first innings came when India were chasing down England's 396. Her second one came when they were trying to overhaul the follow-on deficit of 165.
As Shafali said in the presentation,
"I was just thinking about playing to my strengths and with confidence, and according to my cricket. [Senior players] are always giving my experience and they compliment me before going out to bat. That's means so much to me. I was so disappointed [to miss the hundred]. I just want to be a good cricketer for my side, that's it."
Sneh Rana's impressive all-round display
Sneh Rana became the first player from the India Women's side to score a 50+ score and a four+wicket haul on Test debut. She picked up figures of four wickets for 31 runs in the first innings. Rana then scored a defiant half-century in India’s second innings to see out a draw. She remained unbeaten on 80 and forged an important partnership with Taniya Bhatia.
They added 144 runs for the ninth wicket as they frustrated England bowlers for 30.4 overs and eventually the match ended in a draw.
In the post-match conference, Rana said,
"I'm so proud to have a partnership between us, with Taniya, Harman and Shikha Pandey, most importantly at that time. I'm feeling really great that I'm able to contribute something for my team. [Attitude?] I just thought, stick to your basics, and play according to that ball, that's it. I only played according to the ball,"
India Women's scorecard read 334/8 with a lead of 179 runs when the decision was made to end the match in a slatemate.
Need to curb rash strokes
Too many of the Indian Women's batters settled in and then threw their wickets to rash strokes and cross-batted hoicks that could have cost them the match.
Even as the side were trying to force a draw, Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur were the ones who played rash strokes to hand the momentum back to England. This is one big lesson the Indian women's side can learn from this match and they will need more patience if they have to be better and more consistent in Test cricket.