India pacer Kranti Gaud produced a historic show in the one-off Test against England at Lord’s by claiming a five-wicket haul. Courtesy of her dominating spell, England were out for 170 on day two, allowing the visitors to take a lead of 115 runs after the first innings.
Notably, Gaud finished with figures of 5-35 in only her second Test match. With that, she became the first woman to take a Test five-wicket haul at Lord’s. Her performance also made her the first Indian woman to claim a five-for in any format at the historic venue.
The 22-year-old helped India maintain their momentum and dominate England after the game resumed on the morning of Day 2. She dismissed Maia Bouchier with her fourth delivery of the day after using her wobble seam variation to force an outside edge through to wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia. On the opening day, she had already removed Tammy Beaumont, who is playing her final game for England in international cricket. The veteran was trapped lbw by the Indian pacer.
Overall, England’s top order had struggled heavily to deal with Gaud. She eventually sent Alice Capsey back to the pavilion by beating the batter’s outside edge and hitting the off stump. Heather Knight was also dismissed during the opening session as England slipped into trouble, being reduced to 32/3.
Sciver-Brunt couldn’t save herself from Gaud’s wrath
A recovery effort from Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones briefly gave England hope of stabilising their innings. However, Sneh Rana ended Jones’ stay at the crease before Gaud returned after lunch to claim the crucial wicket of England captain Sciver-Brunt. She eventually completed the milestone by removing Lauren Bell for the ninth wicket.
Smriti Mandhana add another half-century
In the second innings, Smriti Mandhana once again proved her mettle, scoring a half-century as India extended their lead to 269 runs after Day 2. Shafali Verma added 33, while Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia remained unbeaten for 69 and 39 runs, respectively. India would hope to extend their lead to over 400 runs on Day 3 and aim to pick up a historic win against England.
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