England fell to a crushing 347-run defeat in their one-off Test against India inside three days in Mumbai, with captain Heather Knight admitting her team struggled to cope with the “extreme” conditions.
The hosts declared on 186 for six, leaving England a target of 479 to chase down from the final two days of play, but it took India just one session to bowl them out for a first home victory in nine years.
On the second and third days, the pitch clearly favoured the bowlers. “In the main formats we play, which are in white-ball cricket, you’re not often exposed to conditions like this,” Knight told BBC Sport. “We have never seen that sort of spin before, that sort of dryness in the pitch.
“It was super extreme and I’ll be surprised if we play in something like this again unless we play a Test match here in the near future.
“If we had another Test match after this, we would have learned a lot. But the pitch deteriorated quicker than we thought it would. It was a lot easier to bat on first, and then India bowled outstandingly well and showed us how to play in these conditions.
“When they batted, they showed us how to get the right balance between attack and defence and put the pressure back on our bowlers. They suited these conditions and executed their plans.”
Knight top-scored for the visitors with 21 runs to her name as India swept up 10 wickets in just 27.3 overs.
Openers Tammy Beaumont and Sophia Dunkley started England’s second innings in a more assured manner than the first, but put on only 28 runs before the first wicket fell as Beaumont was clean-bowled by Renuka Singh Thakur.
The visitors had already collapsed in their first showing with the bat and another was looking increasingly likely when Pooja Vastrakar claimed two wickets from two balls, first Dunkley for 15 before Nat Sciver-Brunt walked on a golden duck.
Then came England’s highest partnership of the innings as Knight and Danni Wyatt managed 31 runs inside the next four overs, but the stand was soon broken when Knight became Vastrakar’s third victim before Wyatt fell to Deepti Sharma for the second time in the match.
With five wickets down, it appeared a matter of time before England’s defeat was sealed and the visitors slipped from 83 for four to 83 for six when Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone were sent packing.
Sharma ripped through England’s tail when she clean-bowled Kate Cross and then Lauren Filer to claim her fourth of the innings.
England’s defeat was confirmed when Lauren Bell spooned one into the hands of Jemimah Rodrigues at silly point to secure India a first Test win at home against England in six attempts.
“Everything went to plan and credit goes to every member of the team. It was our plan to bowl to England like that, we had prepared accordingly. Every player performed their role,” India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said. “[Pooja Vastrakar] was outstanding. Not only her but each and every bowler in this game.”
England did win the preceding Twenty20 series 2-1 and Knight was keen to take the positives from the tour as a whole.
“The T20 series win was brilliant for us,” said Knight. “Our side in that format is coming together really nicely and we were able to expose some of our young players to these conditions.
“Our main cricket coming up is white-ball cricket – that’s what we are prepping for mostly – so that was really pleasing for us.
“Playing a red-ball game in isolation is quite tricky – the girls from the T20 series only had two days to prepare. I think that’s why we’re quite philosophical about losing the Test match.
“Obviously we were desperate to win it and play well but India massively outplayed us.”
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