Deepti Sharma shone with both bat and ball as India beat England by 347 runs in their one-off women’s Test on Saturday, giving them their first home victory over the opponents.
Sharma, who scored 67 in India’s 428-run first innings, grabbed nine wickets, including a red-hot 5-7 in the first innings, as the visitors were bowled out for 131 on the third morning in Mumbai.
Medium-pacer Pooja Vastrakar took 3-23 as England were knocked for a low total of 479 runs in 28 overs during a lengthy opening session of play.
England, who were bowled out for 136 in their first innings, put up little resistance in their second innings, losing half their side in 15 overs at the D.Y. Patil stadium.
India’s victory margin was the greatest in women’s Test cricket, and it was also their first home Test triumph over England.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s side took a 292-run lead in the first inning after deciding to bat first, and declared on an overnight second-innings total of 186-6 for a 478-run lead overall.
Nat Sciver-Brunt top-scored for England with 59 in the first innings but was bowled for a duck by Vastrakar in the second.
“It’s a proud feeling… we bowled according to plan,” added Sharma, who was named match player.
“I was just getting ready to bowl and warming up.” I had a lot of help from the wicket, and I believed in myself.”
Heather Knight of England stated India were “outstanding” throughout the game.
“The way they batted in the first innings is something we can learn a lot from,” she told reporters.
“The conditions (are) something we’re not used to, we were trying to find a way to score runs.”