England Women vs India Women, Only Test Day 2: Late Wickets Put England On Top After Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana Script Record Opening Stand | Cricket News
Shafali Verma scored 96 against England Women, falling just four short of a maiden Test century on debut.© Twitter
India openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma scripted a stunning opening stand but five quick wickets in the final hour of play brought England back in the game on Thursday. England finished day two on top with five wickets in the final session despite a solid opening stand by the Indian openers. The visitors went to stumps at 187/5 with Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma unbeaten on four and zero respectively. India were right on track to register a mammoth total but England struck late to snatch the driver’s seat as the visitors lost four wickets in the last half an hour.
Punam Raut, skipper Mithali Raj, and Shikha Pandey all went cheaply as India wobbled at the end before the close of day’s play.
Earlier, England resumed their innings from 269/6 but suffered an early jolt as Jhulan Goswami dismisses Katherine Brunt in the 94th over. Meanwhile, Sophia Dunkley hit a fifty on Test debut as England scored their highest total against India Women.
The visitors declared at 396/9 registering their sixth-highest total in all women’s Tests.
Mandhana and Shafali then got India off to a great start as the duo scored 63 runs together without losing a wicket before Tea.
In the third session, Mandhana and Shafali continued their fine form and first brought up the 100-run stand and then registered India Women’s highest opening stand in Tests.
