The historic setting of Lord’s Cricket Floor offered the proper canvas for high-stakes Check cricket because the extremely anticipated ENG-W vs IND-W Only Test commenced on July 10, 2026. With the standard pink ball providing loads of intrigue underneath the morning skies, England Ladies gained the toss and elected to area first, trying to exploit the early moisture. Whereas India‘s batting lineup confirmed unimaginable resilience to claw their approach to 108/3 by the top of the opening session, the morning undoubtedly belonged to moments of particular person bowling brilliance. Amongst them, a spectacular piece of seam bowling from England’s premier pacer set social media alight.
Lauren Bell cleans up Yastika Bhatia with a peach of a supply on Day 1 at Lord’s
The defining spotlight of the primary session arrived within the seventh over, producing a visible that shall be replayed for years. Going through a probing opening spell from Lauren Bell, India’s quantity three batter Yastika Bhatia was visually working laborious to settle into her rhythm. Having fought her approach to 12 runs off 17 deliveries, together with two crisp boundaries, Bhatia regarded able to anchor the highest order alongside opener Smriti Mandhana.
Nonetheless, on the ultimate supply of the seventh over (6.6 overs), Bell produced an absolute jaffa that left the batter fully dumbfounded. Pushing the ball in on a size, the supply initially tracked late by way of the air, swinging in sharply towards center and leg stump. As Bhatia regarded to shut her bat face to work it away, the ball nipped violently off the seam, jiving fully throughout her line of defense.
Earlier than Bhatia might even register the deviation, the ball zipped previous the skin edge and struck the off-stump flush. The Indian left-hander stood frozen in disbelief on the sheer quantity of motion, departing for 12 because the scoreboard ticked over to a precarious 37/2. It was a basic Check match dismissal that highlighted Bell’s elite capacity to govern the seam underneath superb English situations.
Right here’s the video:
Stomach will get Yastika 👏
What a begin. pic.twitter.com/9r8qqFwt2k
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 10, 2026
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England dominates early within the session in opposition to India on Day 1
Whereas India managed to regular the ship later within the session, England’s bowling unit dominated the opening hour after Nat Sciver-Brunt put the guests in to bat. The house aspect struck nearly instantly when Lauren Filer pressured explosive opener Shafali Verma right into a deadly mistake in simply the second over. Verma fell for a four-ball duck, caught sharply behind by wicketkeeper Amy Jones, leaving India reeling at 4/1 in 1.2 overs.
Following Verma’s departure, Bhatia and Mandhana tried to climate the storm, navigating a tense evaluation by England within the third over the place an LBW shout in opposition to Bhatia was struck down by umpire’s name. Bell’s breakthrough to dismiss Bhatia shortly after threatened to interrupt open the Indian center order.
England’s disciplined method stored the strain mounting, with Sophie Ecclestone handing over a decent spell of 6 overs for 29 runs. Issy Wong additionally reaped the rewards of sustained strain later within the session, clean-bowling Jemimah Rodrigues for a well-made 35 off 38 balls, simply as India reached the 101-run milestone. Regardless of the early setbacks and sitting at three wickets down, India discovered consolation in a superb, unbeaten counter-attacking half-century from Smriti Mandhana, who alongside skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, guided India to 122/3 on the shut of an exhilarating first session.
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This text was first printed at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times firm.
