England women fall to 347-run defeat against India in Mumbai with Deepti Sharma taking four for 32 in impressive performance

• England women suffered a 347-run defeat in their one-off Test against India 
• Spinner Deepti Sharma took four for 32 as she produced an impressive display 

England women were bowled out in under a session as they crashed to a 347-run defeat in their one-off Test against India in Mumbai.

Heather Knight’s side had been set 479 to win but were skittled for a paltry 131 off just 27.3 overs. Spinner Deepti Sharma tied England up in knots for a second time in the match, taking four for 32.

She had taken five for seven in England’s first-innings 136 in reply to the home side’s impressive 428, and Knight was left to rue a brutal learning experience.

‘The conditions were extreme,’ she said. ‘They’re something we’re not used to and trying to find a way to score runs and survive was not easy. It was tricky.’

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur had declared her side’s second innings before the start of play on 186-6 to set England the highest ever chase in women’s Test cricket. 

Deepti Sharma took four for 32 as India women overcame England with an impressive display

 Harmanpreet Kaur had declared India’s second innings before the start of play on 186-6 

Knight top-scored with 21 and Charlie Dean made an unbeaten 20, but the rest had no answers to Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar, who took three for 23.

India celebrated their first Test win at home against England in six attempts, while Knight sought to find the positives in a chastening loss.

‘It’s an awesome experience to play a Test match in India and they were outstanding,’ she added. ‘It hasn’t gone how we’d wanted it to but if we do play another one, we’ll have learned a lot from this experience.’

Harmanpreet said: ‘We had prepared accordingly and executed our plan well.’

England’s humbling followed victory in the T20 series which, Knight insisted, was the big plus ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

‘That’s a big focus for us,’ she said. ‘To have exposure to these conditions was valuable.’

Heather Knight’s side suffered a disappointing defeat in the one-off Test in Mumbai

Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is a wicket away from becoming only the eighth bowler to take 500 Test wickets.

Lyon reached 499, taking three for 66, as Pakistan were bowled out for 271 at Perth in reply to Australia’s 487. Khurram Shahzad took the wickets of David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne to leave Australia on 84-2 at the close of play on the third day of the first Test.

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