A plethora of records were set and broken during as India beat England by 347 runs in the women’s Test match in Navi Mumbai.
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India hosted a women’s Test cricket for the first time after nine years and 28 days. When they did, the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai became the 16th Indian venue (and the 78th) in the world to host a women’s Test match.
It also marked the 100th women’s Test for England, who became the first team to reach that landmark. Australia (77) are next, followed by New Zealand (45) and India (39).
India’s first innings was the 15th in history to include four individual fifties, by Shubha Satheesh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia, and Deepti Sharma. However, this was the first time that four separate batters made 65 in the same innings.
India amassed 410-7 in the first day, the second-most in a day’s play in Women’s Test cricket. Back in 1934/35, England had made 431-4 on the first day at Christchurch after bowling out New Zealand for 44.
India eventually scored 428, their second-highest total (after 467 at Taunton in 2002) and the 12th-highest in history.
England were bowled out for 136 in 35.3 overs in the first innings. While they have made three smaller scores against India, this was their shortest innings. In the second innings, they would fare worse (131 in 27.3 overs).
Sharma’s 5-7 was her maiden five-wicket haul. Of all five-fors, only Mary Duggan (6-6) had conceded fewer runs, while Betty Wilson also took a 6-7.
India eventually set England 479 to win. England collapsed to 131 as Sharma finished with 4-32. Her 9-39 are the second-best match figures among Indians, after Jhulan Goswami’s 10-78 at Taunton in 2006.
Sharma also became the third to score a fifty and take four wickets in an innings twice in the same Test match, after Betty Wilson (twice) and Katherine Sciver-Brunt.
India won the Test match by 347 runs, the first time they won a Test match by ‘runs’ (though they beat South Africa by an innings in 2014/15 while batting first). This was also the largest margin of victory in Test cricket history by ‘runs’, eclipsing Sri Lanka’s 347-run triumph over Pakistan at Colombo in 1998.
This was also India’s first Test match win against England on home soil.
