England vs India, single test, Lord’s

india 285 (Mandhana 83; Ecclestone 3-68) & 341-December 7 (Bhatia 113; Ecclestone 5-118)

England 170 (Jones 52; Gaudí 5-37) & 186 (Jones 54; Frog 4-42)

India won by 270 runs

Scorekeeper

England suffered a 270-run thrashing in the women’s single Test at Lord’s as India sealed the emphatic victory before lunch on the final day.

Although defeat was inevitable as England started the day 130-6 and needed another 328 for victory, any hope of a prolonged resistance ended when overnight batsman Amy Jones was caught at mid-wicket for 54.

With the pitch changing, India had the fielders huddled around the bat while their spinners cleared the tail and England were bowled out for 186.

It is England’s second biggest defeat in terms of runs in Test cricket after their 347-run loss against the same opponent away from home in 2023.

Both Issy Wong and Lauren Bell were bowled by Deepti Sharma to leave England on the brink with nine under, but Sophie Ecclestone held firm for her first international half-century.

Ecclestone reached the milestone off 61 balls to continue his five-wicket haul on the third day, before a beauty from Sneh Rana bowled him for 50 to spark jubilant celebrations in India.

Off-spinner Rana was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 4-42.

England were outplayed, offering little conviction or discipline with the bat (in both innings they averaged just four when the ball was pitched over the stumps) and the ball failing to adapt to the conditions and the Lord’s slope.

It was a disappointing end to the excellent careers of former captain Heather Knight and batsman Tammy Beaumont, who had fallen narrowly in England’s innings the previous day.

England’s attention now turns to The Hundred, which begins on July 21, before playing Ireland in a white-ball series in September, where it begins its transition without Knight and Beaumont.