(Reuters) – India’s Deepti Sharma was the thorn in England’s flesh yet again after the feisty spinner captured five wickets for seven runs in an extraordinary spell to bundle out the tourists for 136 in their one-off test match in Navi Mumbai yesterday.
Sharma had controversially run out England’s Charlie Dean with a “Mankad” move – whipping the bails off to dismiss a non-striker who steps out of the crease – in a one-day international at Lord’s last year, but her bowling grabbed all the headlines this time.
The off-break bowler, who contributed 67 runs to India’s first innings total of 428, ripped through England’s middle and lower order as the tourists spectacularly collapsed from 126-5 to hand Harmanpreet Kaur’s side a 292-run lead.
Sharma’s haul from 5.3 overs were the second-best bowling figures by an Indian woman in an innings against England, behind only Neetu David who took 8-53 in Jamshedpur in 1995. She had Danni Wyatt caught in the second ball of the 26th over and removed Amy Jones in bizarre fashion, as the batter’s pull ballooned up after hitting Smriti Mandhana on the head at short leg before being caught by Shafali Verma.
Sharma then shattered Sophie Ecclestone’s stumps to dismiss her for a duck and took a return catch to get rid of Kate Cross for one, before castling Lauren Filer for her fifth victim.
India’s batters will aim to heap more misery on England when they bat in their second innings, after opting to not to enforce the follow-on.