England collapse puts India on course for first women’s Test win in nine years

India are in prime position to pull off their first Test victory in nine years after routing England for 136 then piling on the runs to finish 478 runs ahead, with two days left to play.

Off-spinner Deepti Sharma took only 33 balls to claim a remarkable Test five-for, sending down four maidens and conceding a mere seven runs in her 5.3 overs, as England collapsed from 108 for three to 136 all out.

India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, decided against enforcing the follow-on and England reduced India to 186 for six by the close, with the 22-year-old off spinner Charlie Dean impressing with figures of four for 68 in only her second Test. But with Harmanpreet unbeaten overnight on 44, the hosts will feel confident that victory is a question of when, not if.

“There’s a few tired bodies and tired minds as well,” Nat Sciver-Brunt said. “Test cricket is quite difficult in that you might be out in the field and then things can change quickly. It was a day of up and down.”

Knight and coach Jon Lewis, who had opted for an extra seamer over the all-round off-spinning option of Alice Capsey, looked on stoney-faced as Deepti extracted maximum turn from the pitch, landing the ball well outside off stump and turning it into the right-handers to finish off the English tail.

Sciver-Brunt had earlier struck a half-century, but England’s hopes of a rescue were dashed when Sneh Rana turned the ball even further than Deepti, beating the 31-year-old’s bat and rattling her off stump.

Excellent ground fielding from the Indians supported the efforts of the spinners, with Jemimah Rodrigues holding onto a catch at short leg to see off Danni Wyatt, before Shafali Verma took one at leg slip which rebounded off Smriti Mandhana’s helmet and did for an unfortunate Amy Jones.

But perhaps the most important intervention was that of Pooja Vastrakar, who scored a direct hit from midwicket to run out Ashes double-centurion Tammy Beaumont by a yard, with just 10 runs to her name.

There was also excitement for Renuka Singh Thakur, who bagged a maiden Test wicket and further bragging rights over a hapless-looking Sophia Dunkley, who – after being dismissed by Renuka three times in as many matches in the T20 leg of the tour – was bowled playing all round Renuka’s inswinger. The decision of Knight and Lewis to promote her up the order, after England’s incumbent opener Emma Lamb was forced out of contention with a back injury, looks more and more akin to throwing a lamb to the slaughter.

“It felt like a fairly long afternoon,” Sciver-Brunt admitted. “The pitch deteriorated a little bit, and there was some not so brilliant footwork.

“The bowlers are making us create indecision in the way that we go about things. When wickets fall, India can create a lot of noise and lot of chaos around that, so it’s about trying to ride that wave and that pressure as a batter.”

England had begun the day well by wrapping up India’s first innings with efficiency, the hosts adding just 18 runs to their overnight total for the loss of their final three wickets.

Lauren Bell hit the sweet spot in her four-over spell, and was rewarded with the wicket of Deepti, who tried to defend the swinging ball and sent an edge up to Sophie Ecclestone at first slip. Beaumont made a mess of a simple catch at silly point, but Ecclestone removed Renuka Singh with the very next ball, turning one sharply to hit her off stump, before having Gayakwad caught the next over to close off the innings.

India, though, had already acquired their highest ever total in women’s Tests. With the pressure on, England added to the desperateness of their situation when Heather Knight shelled Shafali Verma at first slip on 0. It was a bad miss which allowed the Indian openers to add 50 quick runs in the opening 11 overs, and put the match even further beyond England’s reach.