IND vs ENG women’s Test: How off-spinner Deepti Sharma triggered an England collapse in 50 minutes | Cricket News
When Deepti Sharma came on to bowl in England’s first innings – perhaps later than most expected – the scoreboard read 108/3 after 25 overs. When she was done bowling, England were bowled out for 136 in 35.3 overs, conceding a 292-run lead to India as wickets tumbled on Day 2 at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday.It was a stunning 50-minute collapse triggered Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana, bowling in tandem to spin a web around England’s batting lineup. Deepti finished with sensational bowling figures of 5/7 in 5.3 overs as a total of 19 wickets fell in Navi Mumbai on the second day. India, choosing to not enforce the follow-on, finished the day at 186/6 with a mammoth lead of 478 runs.
50 minutes of mayhem
England began the day rather well, taking the last three wickets quickly enough and making sure that India’s first innings was wrapped up on 428, with just an addition of 18 runs to their overnight tally. When their batting innings began, they lost Sophia Dunkley early to Renuka Singh Thakur once again as the Indian pacer got the English opener for the fourth time in four outings on this tour.
5⃣-🌟 Bowling Performance, ft. @Deepti_Sharma06!
Relive her brilliant five-wicket haul 🎥 🔽 #TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 15, 2023
Pooja Vastrakar then got a prize wicket in captain Heather Knight before the brilliant Nat Sciver-Brunt once again rescued her side. There was a gift from the visitors in the form of Tammy Beaumont’s run out that ended what would be the only significant partnership of their batting effort.
Deepti was the fifth bowler Harmanpreet Kaur turned to, with the ace offspinner not being brought on until after lunch for her first over. But when she did get her hands on the red-ball with the sun beaming down on the pitch, she made it talk and how.
In her first over, she flighted one outside the off stump that landed on a good length and turned, bounced just enough to see Danni Wyatt feed a catch to short leg. From there on, the floodgates opened. About 20 minutes later, a bizarre sequence of events would prove to be the undoing of Amy Jones. The wicketkeeper-bat played a strong push to the leg side, middling the ball well enough but it hit Smriti Mandhana at short leg flush on the helmet. The ball then looped up to Shafali Verma at leg slip as India celebrated, even while Mandhana was on the turf first and then headed off to get her head looked at, all the while having a wry smile on her face.
5⃣.3⃣ Overs4⃣ Maidens7⃣ Runs5⃣ Wickets
Deepti Sharma was absolute MAGIC 🪄 🪄
Follow the Match ▶️ https://t.co/UB89NFaqaJ #TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @Deepti_Sharma06 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/cGNG4YaKeV
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 15, 2023
Two minutes and two deliveries later, Sophie Ecclestone’s stay ended as Deepti got one to turn from outside off again, but to keep a bit low this time as the tall England star failed to get her bat down in time.
Sneh Rana special
At this stage, it looked like England would need a miracle knock from Sciver-Brunt who once again looked in supreme touch. The allrounder extraordinaire has a knack for making run-scoring look easy, and while no England batter looked comfortable, she was reeling off the boundaries and even looked solid in defence. The only half chance she had given during her knock of 59 had come against Renuka when an outside edge fell short of the first slip. It looked like only a special delivery could end her stay, and it came from Sneh Rana shortly after Ecclestone’s wicket.
Rana was in the middle of what was an erratic spell, struggling to control her line and lengths. But in the 31st over she got the ball to rip back in from a good length so sharply that Sciver-Brunt couldn’t get her feet sorted and was cut in half as the ball crashed into the off stump. It was a bolt out of the blue that effectively sealed England’s fate in the first innings. Rana would get another wicket in her next over with a similar delivery, this time Charlie Dean shouldering arms and getting out LBW.
Deepti, who scored an impressive 66 in the first innings to keep her run of scoring a half-century in every Test she has played, then got a chance to show off her third dimension too. One of the best on the field in this current Indian squad, she got down low to take a swerving return catch offered Kate Cross. The final blow would come an over later as Deepti got one to straighten past Lauren Filer’s outside edge and onto the stumps.
Sneh Rana has joined the wicket-taking party! 👏 👏
2⃣ wickets in quick succession for her! 👌 👌
England lose Nat Sciver-Brunt & Charlotte Dean.
Follow the Match ▶️ https://t.co/UB89NFaqaJ #TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/Gs38Jf3G8x
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 15, 2023
India could have asked England to bat once again but chose to have a go in their second innings. The intent was to score quick runs and the likes of Mandhana, Shafali, Jemimah and Deepti played their cameos even as England’s spinners got their turn to pick up a few wickets as well. Harmanpreet Kaur, like her Mumbai Indians teammate earlier, looked a class apart however, and made sure India’s second innings would extend for a while into Day 3.
In the end, the second day firmly belonged to the Indian offspinners as – from 12.58 pm to 1:47 pm – they threw England off the track in the match with a brilliant display of guile and control. At the heart of it all was Deepti Sharma, an allrounder who showed why the longer the format the more impactful she is.
