Watch: At Navi Mumbai, debutant Renuka Singh Thakur claimed her first Test wicket with an excellent inswinger to bowl Sophia Dunkley.

When women’s Test cricket returned to India after nine years, the home side gave out Test caps to Shubha Satheesh, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Renuka Singh Thakur.

Shubha (69) and Rodrigues (68) came together after India were 47-2 on Day One, and added 115 for the third wicket in 146 balls to put India in control. They were eventually bowled out for 428, their second-highest total in the format after their 467 at Taunton in 2002.

The stage was set for Thakur, who had made a solitary run at No.10. She began with five inswingers to Tammy Beaumont which resulted in, apart from three defensive strokes, an unsuccessful leg-before appeal and a flick for two runs.

Sophia Dunkley then retained the strike from Sneh Rana’s over to face Thakur. In T20I series before the Test match, Thakur had claimed Dunkley in all three matches, including two bowled dismissals. She had made 1, 9, and 11 in the three matches.

It is not clear whether that played on her mind, but Dunkley went after Thakur straight away. She on-drove the first ball of the over for four. Thakur responded with a yorker that went for four more off the inside edge.

Two more balls passed by, and wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia came up to the stumps. Thakur bowled another inswinger, and Dunkley tried to play forward, but did not – perhaps an outcome of Bhatia’s move – reach forward enough. She could only watch as the ball snaked between her bat and pad to hit the timber.

At the time of writing, England were 108-4 with Nat Sciver-Brunt (49) and Amy Jones (0) at the crease. They trail by another 320.

Watch Renuka Singh Thakur bowl Sophia Dunkley to get her first Test wicket:

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