The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian side took the white-ball approach in red-ball cricket on Day 1 of the one-off Test against England at DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai. No batter went on to score a century but as many as four batters scored half-centuries as they posted 410/7 on the board before the end of day's play. India became the first team to score more than 400 runs on Day 1 of a women’s Test since 1935.
In 1935, England scored 431/4 against New Zealand in Christchurch. Also, 475 runs were scored in an aggregate on Day 1 of the Test between New Zealand and England.
Harmanpreet won the toss and opted to bat first. Lauren Bell and Kate Cross struck with the new ball as they dismissed Smriti Mandhana (17) and Shafali Verma (19) respectively. Debutants Shubha Satheesh and Jemimah Rodrigues scored freely. Shubha was the aggressive one of the two and reached her half-century from 49 balls with a boundary off Cross. It is the third-fastest fifty in women's Test cricket where ball data was recorded. At the end of the first session, India were 136/2 after 27 overs.
Sophie Ecclestone lured into a pull shot towards midwicket fielder Nat Sciver-Brunt. She scored 69 runs from 76 balls including 13 fours. In the next over, Rodrigues reached her fifty from 78 balls with a boundary off Lauren Bell. Lauren after taking a beating brought one sharply into the wicket to dismiss Rodrigues. She scored 68 runs from 99 balls including 11 fours. Debutant Yastika Bhatia got a reprieve early on as Bell dropped her catch at mid-on off Charlie Dean's bowling. She was batting on 15 then. At the end of the second session, India were 261/4.
In the 60th over, Yastika hit the first six of the innings to bring up her half-century from 66 balls. In the 62nd over, she was dropped again. This time Heather Knight went for a one-handed catch at slip but failed. In the next over, Harmanpreet was run out in a bizarre manner. Once again, her bat jammed into the pitch. She missed her half-century by just one run. Yastika could not make the most of two dropped catches. Charlie got her wicket in the 67th over. The left-handed batter scored 66 runs from 88 balls featuring 10 fours and a six.
Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma were not troubled by the old ball. In the 78th over, Deepti hit Ecclestone for a six over deep mid-wicket. Sneh Rana played more cautiously. In the 88th over, Deepti reached her half-century with a boundary. She took 78 deliveries to reach the milestone. On the first ball of the 90th over, India completed 400 runs. In the next over, Rana was bowled by Sciver-Brunt. She faced 73 balls to score 30 runs including five boundaries. At the end of the day's play, India were 410/7. Deepti remained unbeaten for 60 off 95 balls including nine fours and a six.
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