England were bowled out for 131 in their second innings having been set 479 to win by India in the one-off Test in Mumbai; India spinner Deepti Sharma took 4-32 to finish with nine wickets in the match; the victory was India's first over England in a home Test match
Saturday 16 December 2023 17:23, UK
England fell to a crushing 347-run defeat to India after collapsing for a second time in their one-off Test match in Mumbai.
Having been dismissed for 136 in their first innings, Heather Knight's side were bowled out for five fewer runs the second time around to bring the match to an end during the opening session on day three of the four-day contest.
Deepti Sharma starred by taking 4-32 to finish with figures of 9-39 in the match for India, whose captain Harmanpreet Kaur had declared on 186-6 before the start of play on Saturday to set England 479 to win.
England captain Knight top scored for her side with 21 as they were skittled out for 131 in just 27.3 overs, while Charlie Dean was the only other player to reach 20 runs as she ended unbeaten on that score.
"The main thing is credit to how they played. The conditions is something we're not used to. We were trying to find a way to score runs," Knight said.
"We were better today in our tempo but it was still tricky. A lot of learnings for us and think of the kind of toolbox you need to play here."
Openers Tammy Beaumont and Sophia Dunkley started England's second innings in a more assured manner than the first but put on 28 runs before the first wicket fell as Beaumont was clean-bowled by Renuka Singh Thakur.
The visitors had already collapsed in their first showing with the bat and another was looking increasingly likely when Pooja Vastrakar claimed two wickets from two balls, first Dunkley for 15 before Nat Sciver-Brunt departed for a golden duck.
Then came England's highest partnership of the innings as Knight and Danni Wyatt managed 31 runs inside the next four overs, but the stand was soon broken when Knight became Vastrakar's third victim before Wyatt fell to Sharma for the second time in the match.
With five wickets down, it appeared a matter of time before England's defeat was sealed and the visitors slipped from 83-4 to 83-6 when Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone were sent packing.
Sharma smashed through England's tail when she clean-bowled Kate Cross and then Lauren Filer to claim her fourth of the innings.
England's defeat was confirmed when Lauren Bell spooned one into the hands of Jemimah Rodrigues at silly point to secure India a first Test win at home against England in six attempts.
"Everything went to plan and credit goes to every member of the team," India captain Kaur said.
"It was our plan to bowl to England like that, we had prepared accordingly. Every player performed their role."
