The iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, long known as the global “home of cricket”, made history on Monday when it hosted its first ever women’s Test match, and it was India that walked away with a dominant 270-run victory over host nation England.
Entering the fourth and final day of the one-off Test, England held a 130-6 score on the batting board, facing an enormous target of 457 runs to claim a win. That mark already stood as more than double the highest successful fourth-innings chase in the entire history of women’s Test cricket, leaving the home side with an uphill battle from the first ball of the day.
It took India barely 90 minutes to seal the historic win, with spin bowler Sneh Rana delivering the two most pivotal blows of the final morning. Rana first removed England’s highest run-scorer Amy Jones, who had notched 54 runs before being sent back to the pavilion. Shortly after, all-rounder Deepti Sharma claimed two quick wickets to whittle down England’s tail end, leaving only lower-order batters Sophie Ecclestone and number 11 Lauren Filer at the crease.
In a display of stubborn resistance, Ecclestone notched her first ever Test half-century during a last-ditch partnership with Filer, but Rana ended the stand by bowling Ecclestone exactly at the 50-run mark. England was bowled out for 186 all out, handing India the lopsided 270-run win.
Beyond the final result, the landmark match produced a string of personal firsts for players at the historic ground. India’s fast bowler Kranti Gaud made Lord’s lore when she became the first woman ever to have her name added to the venue’s famous honours boards, earning the distinction for a five-wicket haul in England’s first innings. Yastika Bhatia later joined Gaud in the history books, scoring 113 runs to notch the first women’s Test century at Lord’s. For England, Ecclestone also hit a personal milestone, claiming a five-wicket haul of her own during India’s second innings as the visitors worked to build their match-winning advantage.
The match marked the final international appearance for England’s Tammy Beaumont and former captain Heather Knight, who announced their retirement from national team duty ahead of the Test.
For India, the historic victory comes as a much-needed confidence boost following the team’s early exit from the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup, where they failed to advance to the semifinal round. For England, the defeat marks the second high-profile disappointment at Lord’s in just over a month, coming after the side fell to Australia in the T20 World Cup final hosted at the ground earlier this month.