Indian Women’s team scripted history at Lord’s
The Lord’s Cricket Ground in London is one of the most iconic cricket arenas around the world and to get your name etched on their honour’s board is a privilege not afforded to many – only bowlers who take fifers and batter who score centuries. This incredible ground with its traditional dressing rooms with the Honours Boards, Victorian pavilion and the famous Long Room has witnessed numerous memorable victories both in Tests and One-Day Internationals. However, this was an unprecedented occasion as Lord’s had never hosted a Women’s Test match before.
As the Lord’s Cricket Ground opened its doors to Women’s Test cricket for the first time ever with a one-off Test match being scheduled between England and India from 10th July – 14th July, 2026 at the classic venue, the excitement was palpable and fans of both teams thronged the stadium with fervour. While England was expected to dominate the match and win at the Mecca of Cricket, India proved everyone wrong with a landmark win, demonstrating the impressive growth of women’s cricket in India yet again.
The match started with India batting on the first morning and scoring an above par first innings score of 285/10, courtesy of half-centuries from opener Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur. 22-year-old Indian quickie Kranti Goud then ran through the England batting order, taking her maiden five-wicket haul (5/37) in test cricket to etch her name in history, becoming the first woman to have her name inscribed on the Lord’s Test bowling honours board and the youngest Indian woman to take a fifer. She was ably supported by Sayali Satghare (2/40) and Sneh Rana (2/41). England were bowled out for a paltry 170, giving India a lead of 115 runs as they headed to bat in their second innings.
The Indian women then batted England out of the game with Yastika Bhatia scoring her maiden Test century and with the help of half-centuries from Mandhana (70 off 130 balls) and Richa Ghosh (50 not out) led India to a massive total of 341/7 with the Indian captain declaring and setting a mammoth target of 456 runs for England. In response, England were bamboozled by Sneh Rana’s spin this time as the spinner grabbed four wickets to help India win the contest with a day to spare. Rana bowled an incredible spell of spin bowling, taking four scalps and was well supported by Kranti Goud, Sayali Satghare and Deepti Sharma who all took two wickets each.
England suffered a humiliating defeat with a massive margin of 270 runs as they were bowled out for a measly 186 with only Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone offering some resistance lower down the order with respectable fifties. Yastika Bhatia became the first woman batter to have her name etched on the Lord’s Test Match Batting Honours Board, making it an incredibly proud day for all Indian fans.
This game was also hyped up as it was a farewell match for outgoing England stalwarts Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont although it wasn’t the kind of send-off that England might have planned. Keeping up with the spirit of the game, the Indian team also gave the outgoing Englishwomen a guard of honour as a mark of respect. However, they didn’t shower any kindness on them during the match, piling a massive defeat on the England team and continuing their consecutive 11-match unbeaten streak (3 wins, 8 draws) against them in the Test match format over four decades.
The importance of this victory is immense. Although India has done well in England in the past, their last outing was a challenging one. India struggled massively in 2021 when they played a one-off Test against England at the Country Ground in Bristol as they got dominated for most of the match but miraculously drew the match with a match-saving 104* run partnership between Sneh Rana (80 not out) and Taniya Bhatia (44 not out). At the time, it was seen as an enormous victory for the Indian Women’s Test team that India was able to save face after being completely outplayed with the bat and ball.
In contrast, India played the entire Lord’s Test match on the front foot, relentlessly applied pressure on the opposition both while batting and bowling and outplayed them on all fronts. Both the results show a stark contrast in the team’s confidence, self-belief and skill level and how dominant and fearless they have become over the past few years.
This historic Test match was a clear indication that women’s players can compete well over a period of five days. It’s not a matter of skill level or stamina that can prevent them from engaging with the opposition in the extended format. It’s a pity though that overseas Test series come few and far between in international women’s cricket. For context, the Indian Women’s team has played only two one-off overseas Tests in the last five years – one in Australia in Perth and the other one at Lord’s. If this match was anything to go by, the skill and belief are definitely present. More matches in hostile conditions will only improve performances, create match awareness to handle pressure situations, build grit, resilience and temperament in women’s players, leading to remarkable growth.
History was definitely being created by India at the Lord’s Cricket Ground and we hope to see our Women’s team get the opportunities to deliver great results on the big occasions at other iconic grounds around the world. While we wait for that to happen, we are definitely going to savour this historic victory and are assured of the fact that Lord’s will now remember Kranti and Yastika forever!
