Hello and welcome to the highlights Day 4 of the one-off Test between India Women and England Women from Bristol County Ground. This is
Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and I'll be taking you through proceedings today.
SHAFALI VERMA IS THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH FOR HER KNOCKS OF 95 AND 63. Here's what the teenager says:
Thanks to our team for supporting me in my journey. I was just thinking to play to my strengths, and with confidence, and according to my cricket, that's it. (Seniors) are always giving my experience and they compliment me before going out to bat. That's so much for me. I was so disappointed (to miss the hundred). I just want to be a good cricketer for my side.
Sneh Rana: So proud to have a partnership between us, with Taniya, Harman and Shikha Pandey, most importantly at that time.
On the mentality during the game: I just thought stick to your basics, and play according to that ball, that's it. One loose ball, and I made it to the boundary, that's it. It's an emotional moment for me, being picked by an India team after five long years. That's an emotional and really proud moment for me. From here, I'm taking so much confidence. I loved to play Brunt, I've never played her, so it gave me great confidence.
Knight has shaken hands. MATCH DRAWN. India remains unbeaten in the last four Tests it has played, but that fourth consecutive win will be a record for another day and, in all likelihood, another captain.
Interesting field decisions here. Knight is pushing her fielders to the boundary when Rana is coming on and bringing them up close when Bhatia comes in, trying to make that century harder. Fair to the English side and that seems to have prompted the umpire to hint as shaking hands.
120.6 BOUNDARY FOR RANA. Inching closer to that century yet again. Rana moves to 80. This one has gone over deep square. Nicely done on the leg side.
Elwiss comes in and there's some movement in the field.
119.6 ENDS THE OVER WITH A BOUNDARY.
short delivery here from Cross. Visibly exhausted delivery this and Bhatia wastes no time pushing this to deep square leg.
119.3 BOUNDARY. Down to the fine leg boundary. There was a confusion on whether this hit the pad but the umpire says bat. Half century nearing for Bhatia.
Rana is the one looking well set to get a century but Bhatia is piling on the agony.
England should rest Ecclestone. She's exhausted to the point of being ineffective.
Elwiss, Shrubsole and the pace battery can see the hour through.
Minimum 14 overs left. Declaration seems unlikely because if it was coming, it would have by now. Is India playing on for their milestones?
117.3 PAINFUL!
Cross to Rana, thin edge there but it's gone and hit the inner part of Jones' knee. The impact stuns her, but she's good to go.
Georgia Elwiss is in. Has England officially tired out? Also, the captains can technically shake hands now, but we hope India keeps at it till Rana gets her century. No reason not to.
Kate Cross comes in
Another Clubhouser user: I did not think India will survive till the last session of the day. That's the biggest victory.
I am dipping in and out of Twitter and Clubhouse spaces and one of the rooms also points out that India has been batting from 2:10pm on Day 2. Is it just me or did the last few days not seem that long *thinking emoji* That's a LONG time. England exhausted at the end of it all.
109.4 BOUNDARY How has Bhatia picked this?
Ecclestone sends in a yorker length delivery to the midwicket boundary. Brilliant from Bhatia.
109.2 BOUNDARY through point for Taniya Bhatia.
She's opening up now isn't she? Lovely.
10PM: MINIMUM 24 OVERS LEFT
108. 4 BYES 1 That has missed so many people, the keeper first slip and run away to the boundary. Not to be THAT person who jinxes things, but is a century coming for Sneh?
Knight into the attack.
If you want to read more about
Sneh Rana , click here:
Ecclestone and Knight in rotation for England.
Minimum overs left today: 26
104.5 BOUNDARY FOR BHATIA. Down extra cover this time. England is looking tired. Knight is resorting to a lot of fuller balls here. It's not exactly working the way she hopes it will.
Knight into the attack.
101.1 FIFTY FOR SNEH RANA . Her maiden half century that too on debut, as she makes a comeback into the Indian set up. Resilient from Rana. She sweeps to deep backward square for the milestone.
Full toss on the pads, swept hard out to deep backward square and that's fifty for Sneh Rana ! Superb debut: four wickets in the first innings, and now a crucial rearguard with the bat. She has ridden her luck at times, no doubt, but this is a vital, vital knock
181 overs. My.
The English bowlers look so worn out. Imagine the workload on their bodies, given that they're bowling to the Indians right after. Let me check how long they've been out there.
98.1 BOUNDARY! Taniya Bhatia this time. Cover drive. Sciver the bowler this time. England's bowlers are letting India run with this.
97.3 BOUNDARY
Sneh Rana underlines the point. She drives Brunt down the covers for a boundary. She's on 45, five more for a half century, India's lead almost up to 100.
That England has struggled to stem this periodic resurgence from India is not something they're going to be happy with when they sit down to review this game. Sneh Rana has been in fine touch. Should this lead go beyond 120, India will be very proud of the effort and rightly so.
96.1 BOUNDARY Ecclestone comes in and is welcomed with a boundary. Sneh Rana is the wedge in England's plans right now. Four runs with a nice hard drive down extra cover.
MINIMUM OVERS LEFT IN THE DAY: 37 [minus 2 in case there's an innings change]
93.4 BOUNDARY
A nice delivery slightly outside off from Brunt to Rana. Rana tries to drive down to cover, but that's not connected well at all. It goes down fine leg instead. Same result though. FOUR.
Katherine Brunt will start post Tea for England.
England needs two wickets .
----- TEA 243/8 [94 OVERS]. INDIA LEADS 78 RUNS ----
92.6 BIG SHOUT. REDFERN says no to Ecclestone for possible LBW dismissal of Rana.
This looks like it's going down leg with Ecclestone getting a nice angle, but that very angle is what could be its undoing. Looks like it was sliding down leg. But it's not like England has a review left anyway, so they couldn't even have tried.
90.2 NAT SCIVER GETS SHIKHA PANDEY. Strangled.
Just after facing 100 deliveries together, this partnership is broken. Opportunity for England again. Sciver sends one down that goes towards leg side, Shikha gets some bat on it and Jones collects behind the stumps. That brings in Taniya Bhatia
"Sophie, come back," English fans on Twitter. Heather, how about some spin?
88th over In the last four balls, India has managed a few lucky boundaries. One for Rana and two for Pandey. That lead going up to 71.
86.6 BOUNDARY
There goes that number. Sciver conceded her second run in the previous delivery and has now conceded a boundary in the last ball, courtesy Sneh Rana sending the ball through the slips for a boundary.
Nat Sciver coming into the attack in the 87th over, having conceded just a run so far. Will that change?
46-48 overs remain in the day. Brunt comes on.
There's bad light in Bristol, as is the case in Southampton. Play has stopped there. We have a LIVE blog going for the WTC Final too. You can check that out here . We continue with the floodlights here. It's not too dark.
Yes, they do. Shrubsole follows Brunt, with tea nearing. Can India bat out this period? England needs another wicket.
England has taken the second new ball. Will the pacers get a better run in the opening few overs?
77.5 BOUNDARY FOR SHIKHA PANDEY. Pandey cuts this and it runs towards boundary beating backward point.
SOPHIE ECCLESTONE HAS EIGHT WICKETS
(4 in the first innings, 4 in the second innings)
IN THIS MATCH. According to
Hypocaust (Twitter) ,
Sophie Ecclestone is the first English spinner to take 8 in women's Test since Enid Bakewell took 10-75 against WI at Edgbaston in 1979.
73.3 ECCLESTONE REMOVES HARMAN.
Full length delivery from Ecclestone and Harman gets on knee for a slog sweep. That goes horribly wrong with barely any distance but a lot of height. Simple catch for the wicketkeeper, Amy Jones. Encore of the collapse. Just what England wants. Shikha Pandey comes in. Two new batters at the crease.
As things stand, India leads by 34 runs.
71.6 Boundary for Rana behind point. That will give her confidence. India needs to survive beyond tea here. England needs at least two of those four wickets left to come in as soon as possible. Get Anya Shrubsole to come in and finish off the required target, I say, but that's just me wanting to relive her first innings ballistics once more.
Sneh Rana comes in at now. Pressure on Harman.
70.4 OUT. KNIGHT GETS VASTRAKAR! Arm ball from the England skipper and Vastrakar is completely beaten.
BACK TO BACK BOUNDARIES for Vastrakar in the 68th over, both through mid-on. Nice to see the measured aggression from the Indian. England will want to remove her first, given Harman looks like she wants more time to settle down. Removing Vastrakar may be the pressure button which may force Harman to open up and make more errors.
Smart decision here from India to send in Pooja Vastrakar. She can bat and has done well in the domestic circuit. Let's see if she can settle in. A win looking realistic for England if they can just bowl the Indian side out in the next hour or so.
61.5 CASTLED. OUT! Mithali Raj has missed that and England is ecstatic. Full-ish delivery from Ecclestone. Mithali tried pushing that a little square on the off-side. But she's beaten, the balls goes straight through and clips the off stump. Seven wickets for Ecclestone in this match. Will she get 10?
59.2 A MITHALI RAJ BOUNDARY. India fans have waited for seven years and an innings to see this in Test cricket and it's against one of the most imperious bowlers in the game too- Ecclestone. Punched through the covers here for four.
We're back after lunch. Mithali Raj comes in for India. Ecclestone leads the attack for England.
A little reading on Deepti Sharma:
Heather Knight to Sky:
We needed that (Deepti's wicket). It's been tough work Not a huge amount in it for the seamers so it's about being patient and trying to attack from the other end with spin. Hopefully we can open the door with that last wicket.
------------ LUNCH 171/3 [57.5 overs] lead England by 6 runs ------------
88 RUNS HAVE COME IN THIS SESSION AT THE EXPENSE OF 2 WICKETS (SHAFALI, DEEPTI).
Question now: Should Mithali come in and consolidate? Or should India send in Harmanpreet to try and amp up the pace given that Punam is already out there and settled? Tell us on Twitter, tag us @Sportstarweb .
57.5 OH WHAT A STRIKE. ECCLESTONE PEGS ONE BACK FOR ENGLAND AND GETS DEEPTI. Full here from Ecclestone and Deepti tries to sweep again but doesn't connect well enough. The edge carries to the base of the stumps and that menacingly close English field is ecstatic. That wicket has come a little late for England but the side will be happy with this.
INDIA HAS SLASHED THE DEFICIT AND NOW LEADS ENGLAND BY A RUN. Good work by the Indian batters. Job well done in this first session. What India moves on to do today, when it declares if it does and what England has to get will be very interesting to see. Nice to see that notes have been made from that first innings and amends have been made here in the second.
54.5 Deepti pulls Sciver to square leg.
Just a single here for Sharma but that's brought up her maiden Test fifty. What an occasion to get this score at.
Twitter is discussing Deepti's batting here so for all those who want some comforting trivia about the Sharma in this match, here's the scorecard from the Railways vs Bengal from the Senior Women's ODI trophy recently. Her innings helped Bengal beat the mighty Railways in that game.
51.1 A very closed field here. Leg slip, short leg, silly point, two slips for Ecclestone. She's managed to get an edge in that first ball, but no breakthrough. Straighter deliveries to Raut may help maybe? Miss Jhulan's nagging lengths. Will we get to see her today?
20 minutes of play remains before lunch is taken here in Bristol.
Nothing in this wicket for the bowlers. Knight is trying and trying hard to get the ball to have some movement but this wicket has nothing. Batters are happy. No one is complaining.
FIFTY PARTNERSHIP FOR DEEPTI AND PUNAM
48.2
Knight the target here? Deepti sweeps this one to the fine leg for a boundary!
DEEPTI NEARING A HALF CENTURY . On 46 now.
47.3 BOUNDARY. RAUT THIS TIME! ODI mode! Visible acceleration here from India, going on borderline one-day cricket mode. She pushes this off to the mid on and bounces off to the boundary.
Deepti Sharma on 43 (132)
46.6 Oh what a paddle sweep there from Deepti!
This is beautiful batting from her. Knight sent in a short delivery and Deepti got down on one knee and respectfully dispatched this to fine leg. Are we playing one-day cricket here?
Another stat:
Brunt is the only bowler to dismiss Punam Raut five times in her international career, Knight's the only one to do it twice in Tests.
STAT: Six of the eight sides that have enforced the follow-on in women's Tests have gone on to win the match. Two of those eight have ended in a draw. As
The Hindu'sAmol Karhadkar puts it, we don't have a Kolkata 2001 situation in women's Tests so far and that's unlikely to happen here.
42.1 BOUNDARY Nice welcome for Knight here from Punam. No demons from the first innings. She uses that full toss to map the outfield near midwicket. English fielders can do nothing. Such nice timing from Raut here.
Heather Knight brings her on.
DRINKS - India has done well to steady the innings here, for just the one wicket to fall.
Brunt walks with her cap on her face. She's not happy with how that over went.
40.4 APPEAL FOR LBW. Brunt bowls in straight and we see the ball seemingly hitting the pads. There was bat involved there, but the umpire has raised her finger. Punam reviews and, and we see a big inside edge there. Umpire decision has been reversed. Raut survives and safely so.
Looks like Rohit has been dismissed in the other match (the WTC Final)One Sharma survives. And that's Deepti.
That catch from Brunt to dismiss Shafali Verma. Well done by England in the field.
36 overs done in the Indian innings. Punam Raut will want to consolidate, but it's Deepti Sharma who's looking very fluent this morning. Brilliant from the youngster.
31.5 STRUCK ON THE PAD, IS PUNAM RAUT. Is that goiing away from the leg stump? Knight reviews. No bat involvement but it's moving away from the leg stump. England loses a review
31.3 FOUR. Early fluency from Punam Raut here. She's gotten on to the backfoot here punched that away to the cover boundary. Ecclestone's been a little patchy today, with her line and length. Discipline from her end will be key for India.
29.6 HOLED OUT AGAIN. SHAFALI IS OUT. Ecclestone gifts her a full toss, but she's not connected that greatly and Brunt comes up at long-on to complete a brilliant catch. Punam Raut is now.
STAT: Most runs in a debut match: Shafali finishes on number 3 in the overall list with 159 runs in this match.
STAT: Shafali Verma becomes the first woman in history to hit three sixes in a Test match.
29.1 SIX. Straight over the bowler's head.
I love this shot from Shafali. All through this game, she has batted with such authority, and no regard for the stature Ecclestone has in the world's stage too. India's intent evident here.
28.6 OH GOOD BALL! Shrubsole is disappointed at a missed LBW there. But what matters is the next ball. Lovely cover drive from Deepti Sharma. What a way to rub things in to Shrubsole. Love how Deepti Sharma is getting into the scheme of things.
Goal for the session: Wipe off the deficit without losing too many wickets. Shafali's personal goal - to get that century.
Is that outfield looking a little damp there?
And we're off here.
5 MINUTES TO GO. Ecclestone has managed to get some turn and will hope to make some early inroads if she manages to neaten up those lengths. Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole have had a largely ordinary game [despite those two brilliant deliveries from Brunt yesterday and Shrubsole's T20 ballistics at the end of the first innings]. They will want to join the party too. Can England trigger a collapse again? Getting Shafali out will be key. Let's see how it goes. Gear up for a cracking fourth day.
3:15PM: 15 MINUTES TO GO. POLL TIME!
2:45PM:
In the one-off Test against England, India trails by 82 runs with Shafali batting on 55 along with fellow debutant, Deepti Sharma, who is unbeaten on 18. The duo defied the England bowlers for 20 overs and added 54 runs in the post-lunch session when early Tea was called due to rain. The post-lunch session itself started 30 minutes late due to rain. England toiled hard for the whole second session without any success. The other opener Smriti Mandhana was dismissed in the morning session for just eight runs as India aims to save the Test with nine second innings wickets in hand in the four-day match.
Verma, who had hit 96 in her first innings, continued her impressive form as she hit six more boundaries in the second session.
Highlights day 03: courtesy - ECB
This is the only the second time India has been asked to follow-on in women's Tests, the last time being vs Australia in 2006. Shafali Verma is out here to change the course the history, if you go by her ruthless intent to score runs. Let's quickly recap what we saw of day 3 between showers in Bristol.
Cloudy day in Bristol, but as long as the rain stays away, there's no reason why we shouldn't see a full day's play.
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome back to our LIVE blog of the Bristol Test. It' the last day of Test cricket for the women and it's a bittersweet moment for me, given how nicely this game is poised right now. Let's begin with a weather update from Bristol.
Former India cricketers Shubhangi Kulkarni and Sudha Shah on their experiences in Test cricket and why this one-off Test is a positive note in Indian women's cricket history
Where are the teams playing?
The one-off Test will be played at the Bristol County Ground. Bristol has not seen a men's or women's Test match yet.
Where to watch - telecast and live streaming details
The one-off Test match between India and England women in India will be telecast on Sony TEN 1 and available for live streaming on Sony Liv. Jio TV and Airtel XStream will also provide live streaming
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