Key events
104th over: India 428-9 (Vastrakar 10, Rajeshwari 0). Dean is back into the attack and is finding a nice spot in front of Vastrakar. That is until she drags down her final ball and is hammered for four behind sqaure.
As the original post suggests, perhaps we should be talking about ‘shaky 60s’ rather than ‘nervous 90s’.
This is the first time in a women’s Test, and just the second time in the history of Test cricket overall, that four players have been dismissed in the 60s in the same innings.
The only other instance was Australia men against West Indies at the SCG in Jan 1952.#ENGviND https://t.co/cA6oJriYfS
— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) December 15, 2023
103rd over: India 424-9 (Vastrakar 6, Gayakwad 0) A wicket maiden for Ecclestone. She really is a terrific bowler. Loads of flight and variations in pace. England just one away now.
WICKET! Renuka Singh b Ecclestone 1 (India 424-9)
Cleaned up! Full with plenty of drift and flight, it almost hits the batter on her toes. Instead it takes sharp turn out of the foot mark before knocking back the off stump. Ecclestone will feel a sense of relief. So will Beaumonth after dropping a bit of a sitter at silly point the ball before.
102nd over: India 428-8 (Vastrakar 6, Singh 1) Another top set from Bell. She’s got it hooping into the right handers. When she’s full it causing all sorts of trouble and there’s a loud appeal for leg-before to Vastrakar. That compels Knight to pull her fielder from cover and invite the drive. But Bell drags one down and there’s an easy single to be had in the new gap. The last ball is full, but wide, and Singh reaches for it to take a single down to deep third.
Bell is striking a lovely note so far.
I really believe Lauren Bell has come of age as a bowler in this test match… it’s hard work on this type of surface, and you get rewarded if you bang the ball into the pitch which is what she’s consistently done. Good stuff.
— 🗡️Charles Dagnall 🗡️ (@CharlesDagnall) December 15, 2023
101st over: India 422-8 (Vastrakar 5, Singh 0) Ecclestone has it on a string for five deliveries and almost finds Vastrakar’s outside edge with one that spits from a full length. She strays, though, with her final ball and it allows the Indian batter to tuck a single off her hips to keep the strike.
100th over: India 421-8 (Vastrakar 4, Singh 0) A wicket maiden but it could have been a double strike as the last ball of the over jags back and almost takes out the Renuka Singh’s off-stump. Deepti will be annoyed with herself with that dismissal. It was almost a half volley but she chose to prod rather than belt it. Perhaps it was the straight line that compelled her to be more defensive. Still, full credit to Bell who has found a great rhythm this morning.
WICKET! Deepti c Ecclestone b Bell 67 (India 421-8)
Finally they’ve held on to one in the slips. Wonderful bowling from Bell. A persistently good line keeps Deepti interested and she prods at a fuller one and catches the edge. It’s straight at Ecclestone and she pouches it without fuss. Lovely bowling.
99th over: India 421-7 (Deepti 67, Vastrakar 4) Beaumont has a sniff of another hard-handed dab from Deepti but this time there’s no chance of a catch. The Indian batter gets hold of a sweep but there’s now a fielder covering on the rope and it’s just a single. Ecclestone is dangling the bait for Vastrakar, tossing it above the eye line, but she’s not biting.
98th over: India 420-7 (Deepti 66, Vastrakar 4) Tidy stuff from Bell. She’s hitting a good length outside of Vastrakar’s off stump and it’s a maiden. India’s number nine is happy to be on the defence for now.
97th over: India 420-7 (Deepti 66, Vastrakar 4) There’s a dropped catch! It’s a tough chance for Beaumont at forward short leg but it’s definitely a catch that’s been put down. Ecclestone’s first ball of the morning is a floater is met with the full face of Deepti’s bat and it it spoons towards the fielder under the lid. She can’t react in time and the chance goes. The next ball is a stinker down the leg side that trickles for five byes and the set is capped off by a crunching sweep for four behind sqaure.
96th over: India 412-7 (Deepti 62, Vastrakar 4) Lauren Bell is into her fifth spell of the innings. She’s coming from round the wicket into the left handed Deepti. Like Dean before, she’s a touch too wide and Deepti can take a comofrtable off the back foot single through point after letting the first two go. Bell hits a better line from over the wicket to the right hander Vastrakar as she tests that fourth stump channel. Just the one from the over.
95th over: India 411-7 (Deepti 61, Vastrakar 4) Big turn for Dean who’s spinning it with her fingers from over the wicket away from the left hander. She’ll want to get it straighter though as Deepti has room to bunt it for a single behind square. Vastrakar is watchful as she sees out the first over the morning.
Right then. Here we go. Charlie Dean has the ball. Deepti Sharma has a bat in her hand. Day two is underway.
There are a couple of interesting stats that I’ve come across this morning.
The first is that this is already India’s highest ever total in a Test match on home soil, eclipsing the 410 they scored against England 21 years ago. And they’re not done yet!
The next bit of trivia comes courtesy of Yastika Bhatia’s swinging blade. She became just the fourth women to bring up a half century with a six when she pulled Lauren Filer over the rope behind backward square.
I’ve nicked the full list from the wonderful Hypocaust X account:
Every recorded instance of a woman bringing up a Test fifty with a six:
Edna Barker (ENG) v NZ, 1966 (48* to 54*)
Liz Signal (NZ) v ENG, 1984 (49* to 55*)
Shelley Nitschke (AUS) v ENG, 2005 (47* to 53*)
Yastika Bhatia (IND) v ENG, 2023 (47* to 53*)#INDvENG https://t.co/tHtBIiCR1Q— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) December 14, 2023
Have you switched on the radio in search of the TMS feed? Don’t adjust your reception, it’s not you, it’s them.
Sadly the Beeb has been unable to secure the radio rights for any of England’s upcoming cricket over in India. That includes this ongoing women’s series and the five Test match series between the men’s teams.
Ali Martin has the skinny:
For any early birds out there, here’s a recap of yesterday’s play as told by Raf Nicholson:
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Hello all, and welcome to the coverage of the second day of the one-off Test between India and England. The best thing we can say for the tourists is that the sun rose again after setting on a pretty torrid outing yesterday. Thanks to four half-centuries, and a wonderful 49 from the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, that was ended with a truly bizarre run-out, the hosts plundered 410-7 before the close of play.
This was England’s first Test in India for 18 years so perhaps they can be forgiven for not quite getting a handle on conditions. Still, they bowled well with the first new ball and prevented Satheesh Shubha (69), Jemimah Rodrigues (68) and Yastika Bhatia (66) from getting too far away from them.
The dangerous Deepti Sharma is still there on 60 but there’s an opportunity at the other end thanks to Nat Sciver-Brunt’s late dismissal of Sneh Rana for 30.
England will want to wrap things up as quick as they can and then show that the match situation is more a consequence of favourable batting conditions than their own shortcomings.
Nothing like a Test, eh? Loads of undulations to come I’m sure. I’m off to make a strong pot of coffee and wipe the sleep from my eyes. Back in a bit.
Play resumes at 04:00 BST / 09:30 IST.
