Visitors bowled out for 231, 165 runs behind England’s first-innings total of 396 for 9 declared
Innings India 231 (Verma 96, Mandhana 78, Ecclestone 4-88, Knight 2-7) trail England 396 for 9 dec. (Knight 95, Dunkley 74*, Beaumont 66, Rana 4-131, Sharma 3-65) by 165 runs
India resumed on 187 for 5 after a flurry of wickets in the final hour on Thursday brought undone the partnership worth 167 between Verma and Mandhana. Ecclestone, the left-arm spinner, struck with her first ball – the fifth of the day overall – when she had Harmanpreet Kaur out lbw. It took an astute England review to claim the wicket after Kaur was initially given not out by on-field umpire Sue Redfern, with replays showing the ball hitting leg stump.
Ecclestone then had Taniya Bhatia out lbw with the first ball of her next over, Bhatia burning a review in the hope of having a fairly cut-and-dried dismissal overturned. By then, India had lost seven wickets for 20 runs in 14.2 overs.
But it was perhaps her removal of Sneh Rana that would have brought Ecclestone the greatest satisfaction, such was the quality of the delivery, pitching outside off and turning sharply across to find the edge, Amy Jones taking a juggling catch behind the stumps. It was Ecclestone’s fourth wicket and she ended the innings with 4 for 88 from 26 overs.
Earlier, on the second day, 17-year-old Verma scored a stellar 96, the highest score by an India woman on Test debut, to set her side on course to overhaul England’s imposing first-innings total of 396 for 9 declared in tandem with Mandhana, who scored 78.
After their partnership was broken, Shikha Pandey, Punam Raut and Mithali Raj all fell cheaply, the first two to the part-time offspin of Heather Knight either side of Ecclestone’s dismissal of Raj.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo