England, India to clash in historic Lord's women's Test: Details
What's the story
England and India will face off in a historic women's Test match at Lord's, starting Friday. The game marks the first-ever women's Test at the iconic venue, which has hosted 150 men's Tests since its inception. As per BBC Sport, the match is part of the 153rd women's Test overall and will be played over four days till July 13. Ahead of the 3:30pm IST clash, here's the preview.
Match history
A look at head-to-head record
This will be the 16th women's Test match between England and India. Out of the previous encounters, England have won just once while India own three victories to its name. The rest of the matches have ended in draws. The last time these two teams met in a Test match was in December 2023, which also ended in a stalemate.
Team lineup
England and India squads
The England squad for this landmark match includes captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Tilly Corteen-Coleman, Sophie Ecclestone, and others. Amy Jones will be the wicketkeeper while Heather Knight and Emma Lamb also feature in the team. The Indian squad comprises captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana among others. Yastika Bhatia will take up wicketkeeping duties with Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma completing a strong lineup.
Opening event
Special opening ceremony at Lord's
To commemorate this historic occasion, Lord's Cricket Ground will host a special opening ceremony on Friday morning. A group of 50 former England women cricketers will come together to ring the famous Lord's Five-minute Bell before the first ball is bowled. The group includes former stars such as Enid Bakewell, Claire Taylor, and Isa Guha.
Duo
Sciver-Brunt positive as there's a change of format
England come into this match on the back of losing the ICC Women's T20 World Cup final against Australia recently at Lord's. "There's some disappointment about the ICC Women's T20 World Cup final," Sciver-Brunt said to reporters. "The beauty of being here now is that it's a change of format and the polar opposite to T20 cricket. We've got some fresh faces into our squad who are bringing some great energy as well."
Information
Sciver-Brunt looks forward to a special week at Lord's
"I'm sure the disappointment of the final won't have left lots of people, but we are looking forward to such a special week here at Lord's, doing something that we dreamt of as kids. It's a great time to be a women's cricketer," she added.
Kaur
Indian skipper Harmanpreet calls for 'many more Test matches'
"As a cricketer, we definitely want to be part of many Test matches. But I think that's totally the higher authorities' call," Indian skipper Harmanpreet said on the eve of the Lord's Test. "Till now, I have seen all the highs and lows, and I have seen women's cricket growing all these years. I think we are in the right hands, and they're the right ones to take the call," she added.
Players
Player focus: Here are the stats
Mandhana owns 635 runs in this format for India from 8 matches at 48.84. She owns 2 fifties and three tons. England's Sciver-Brunt has managed 883 runs from 12 matches (20 innings) at 46.47. She owns two hundreds and five fifties. Among bowlers, England spinner Ecclestone has bagged 40 wickets at 29.75. For India, Deepti has bagged 22 scalps from six matches (9 innings) at 19.50, as per ESPNcricinfo.
XIs
Probable XIs: England vs India
ENG-W probable XI: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Heather Knight, Alice Capsey, Amy Jones, Mady Villiers, Issy Wong, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell/Tilly Corteen-Coleman. IND-W probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia/Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sayali Satghare, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud.