Smriti, Harmanpreet, Deepti strike fifties but England bowl out India…

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma struck well-timed fifties but regular strikes helped England bundle out India for 285 on the opening day of the one-off women's Test here on Friday.

At close, England were 21 for one with Maya Bouchier (17 not out) and Heather Knight (1 not out) holding fort after Kranti Goud jettisoned Tammy Beaumont (2). The hosts trail by 264 runs. Before Deepti (57) came up with a familiar later order resistance, India were served well by Mandhana (83) and Harmanpreet (58). biznow.biz

Mandhana guided the Indian innings early after Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia were dismissed inside the first seven overs, leaving India at 37 for two. But Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues (35, 38 balls) stitched a breezy 64-run stand for the third wicket as India recovered well to go past 100 without further loss. It was double barrel firing as Mandhana and Rodrigues tore into the English attack in their own inimitable styles.

The left-hander was severe on pacer Lauren Filer, carting her for two fours in a row, before smashing spinner Sophie Ecclestone (3/68) for a six, a slog-sweep over mid-wicket. Rodrigues sent Ecclestone, who later surpassed Katherine Sciver-Brunt (335 wickets) to become England's leading wicket-taker (338 wickets) in international cricket, twice to the ropes in succession as India motored at over six runs an over during their alliance.

But Rodrigues' attempt to reach out to a wide delivery off pacer Issy Wong had disastrous consequences, as the ball disturbed the stumps after taking her bat's edge. India needed a continuation of that stand in the middle phase to retain their control, and the tourists did just that through Mandhana and Harmanpreet. The fourth-wicket pair milked 89 runs as India continued to dominate a bit off-colour England bowling unit.

Test debutant spinner Mady Villiers and Filer gave them a semblance of control but Harmanpreet was equal to the task, driving them through cover region. However, Mandhana fell while approaching a century, edging Wong to stumper Amy Jones. Harmanpreet too fell at the stroke of tea, bowled by a lovely off-break from Villiers. India went to tea at 202 for five, and needed a few more runs to give a reasonable challenge to England on a pitch that offered some grip to spinners.

Deepti made a useful 45-run partnership with Sneh Rana to take India past the 250-run mark, but by then England bowlers had regained a bit of good rhythm. At one point, India were 190 for three but English bowlers found their range to pluck the rest of the seven wickets for 85 runs, and it may rankle India later in the match.

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World Championships finalist Sarvesh Kushare walked into Monaco’s Stade Louis II on Friday night for his Diamond League debut, carrying little more than belief and the confidence that came from breaking India’s high jump record just weeks earlier at National Interstate Championship.

“2.31m is a mark that can help me reach the podium on the global stage,” Kushare told RevSportz in Bhubaneswar after his record-breaking feat.

The Indian national record holder took another step towards proving that belief. He finished third in the stacked men’s high jump field with a best clearance of 2.26m in Monaco. Ukraine’s reigning World Indoor champion and world leader Oleh Doroshchuk won the Monaco Diamond League with a best effort of 2.32m, while Britain’s Jack Kimani, who has shown incredible improvement this season, finished second after clearing 2.30m.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympic joint gold medallists Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar endured disappointing outings, finishing sixth and eighth with best clearances of 2.23m and 2.20m respectively.

The competition marked the second biggest stage of Kushare’s career after the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, where he became the first Indian high jumper to qualify for the final.

The 31-year-old from Maharashtra, who entered the Monaco Diamond League ranked fourth on the season’s world list and as Asia’s No. 1 in 2026, looked composed on his debut. He cleared 2.12m, 2.16m, 2.20m, 2.23m and 2.26m flawlessly at the first attempt before failing to clear 2.28m.

The result made Kushare the first Indian athlete to finish in the top three on his Diamond League debut. It is another milestone in a breakthrough season for the Maharashtra athlete, who recently became the first Indian high jumper to clear the elusive 2.30m mark at the National Inter-State Championships, soaring over 2.31m to break the long-standing national record of 2.29m set by Tejaswin Shankar in 2019.

Kushare also entered an exclusive club, becoming only the fourth Indian to finish in the top three at a Diamond League meeting, joining Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar.

Animesh shatters personal best

India’s second-fastest sprinter and 200m national record holder, Animesh Kujur, clocked an impressive 10.14s in the men’s 100m at the PUMA Fast Arms Fast Legs Meet in Germany to begin his European campaign.

The performance improved his personal best by one-hundredth of a second and also made him the fastest Indian ever over 100m outside India.

Earlier in the day, he had clocked 10.19s in the heats before improving to 10.14s in the final, where he finished second behind South Africa’s Retshidisitswe Milenga, who clocked 10.03s to set a new meet record.

The national record is held by Gurvindervir Singh, who clocked 10.09s at the Federation Cup in Ranchi earlier this year.

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Snehasis Mukherjee, London

Day one of the first-ever Women’s Test at Lord’s came to an end with India being bowled out for 285 before England reached 21/1 at stumps. While the action now shifts to day two, one of India’s biggest positives from the opening day was vice-captain Smriti Mandhana. The left-hander played a delightful innings of 83, laced with 11 fours and a six. Although she missed out on a century and a place on the Lord’s Honours Boards, the knock came in her 300th international appearance, making her only the 12th woman to reach the milestone.

Mandhana made a cautious start to her innings. Her opening partner, Shafali Verma, departed for a four-ball duck, but Yastika Bhatia walked in at No. 3 and took responsibility for keeping the scoreboard moving, allowing Mandhana time to settle. She struck her first boundary off the 11th ball she faced, driving Lauren Bell beautifully through the covers. It was a classic front-foot cover drive that showcased Mandhana’s elegance.

The pair built a useful partnership before Bell produced a superb delivery to dismiss Yastika. Jemimah Rodrigues then joined Mandhana in the middle, and the partnership appeared to free up the opener’s scoring. The duo added 64 runs for the third wicket, during which Mandhana brought up her half-century. She then stitched together another important stand of 89 runs with captain Harmanpreet Kaur.

However, just when she looked set for a three-figure score, Issy Wong dismissed her. Mandhana chased a delivery well outside the off stump, away from her body, and edged it behind to Amy Jones. It was a sharp catch by the England wicketkeeper, but it was also an avoidable shot, especially in the longest format after she had done all the hard work.

There appeared to be a brief lapse in concentration as she could not resist going after the wide delivery. Speaking after the day’s play at the press conference, Wong revealed that the plan was to bowl round the wicket and keep the ball outside the off stump to unsettle Mandhana, hoping she would play at it. The plan eventually worked.

For a batter of Mandhana’s quality, the dismissal would have been frustrating. She looked well set for a big score, and converting the innings into a century could have helped India post a total closer to 350 after reaching 190/3 at one stage.

Interestingly, Mandhana found scoring difficult in the second session. She was unbeaten on 56 off 67 balls at lunch but managed only 27 runs from her next 41 deliveries. Her scoring rate slowed considerably, and that may have played a part in her dismissal. Even so, the runs came at an important time. Mandhana had struggled for consistency in recent matches despite getting starts. After back-to-back fifties in the first two games of the recently concluded series, she failed to make significant contributions in the following three matches.

An 83 may not have been the perfect way to celebrate the first-ever Women’s Test at Lord’s and her 300th international match. A century on such an occasion would have made it even more memorable. Yet her innings remains significant, as Mandhana became the first batter to score a fifty in a Women’s Test at Lord’s—a landmark achievement that will always be remembered.

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Seasoned India cricket all-rounder Deepti Sharma said the first hour of the second day will be crucial, adding that the visitors will look to strike early and put England under pressure in the one-off women’s Test here.

Invited to bat, India posted 285 in their first innings, courtesy half-centuries from senior batters Smriti Mandhana (83), Harmanpreet Kaur (58) and Deepti (57). The visitors then removed opener Tammy Beaumont before stumps, leaving England at 21 for 1.

“Initial one hour is really important," Deepti said after the end of the opening day’s play on Friday.

“I think the total is decent. If there were 20-25 more runs, there would have been an extra margin. But the earlier we take wickets tomorrow, the better it will be for us," she added.

England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone claimed three wickets, exploiting variable bounce and turn on the surface and Deepti expects the pitch to continue assisting the bowlers.

“The wicket is turning slightly and sometimes keeping low. The wicket is not the same. We have to be prepared when the ball can bounce and when it can stay low. Tomorrow will be a very important day for us.

“We will focus more on our bowling strength. Like today’s wicket, we were getting a slight turn. But sometimes, the ball was staying low and sometime there was bounce. It will help us tomorrow. But we have to focus on our right areas. We have to continue to bowl back-to-back."

Deepti, who shared a crucial partnership in the lower-middle order, credited the top-order batters for laying the platform.

“It feels good that I was able to do this partnership at a crucial time. All credit goes to our 3-4 batters who gave a good start. Jemi (Jemimah), Hari di (Harmanpreet) and Smriti. They built the inning very well."