India crush England by 270 runs to win the first women’s Test at Lord’s
The first women’s Test ever played at Lord’s ended with India in complete command, a bowling-led effort dismissing England cheaply on the final day as Kranti Gaud walked off with the match award.
Jul 13, 2026
India produced a commanding four days at Lord’s, crushing England by 270 runs to win the first women’s Test ever staged at the ground. Set an unlikely 457 to win, England were bowled out for 186 on the final day, a result that will sit alongside anything India’s women have managed away from home.
The match had been drifting India’s way since the third evening, when England closed on 130 for 6. India needed only a couple of hours on the final day to finish the job, though the hosts did not go quietly.
Bhatia’s hundred set up the declaration
The platform was built the day before, when Yastika Bhatia became the first woman to score a Test century at Lord’s. Her 113, with Smriti Mandhana’s 70 alongside it, carried India past 300 before Harmanpreet Kaur declared at 341 for 7 and set England a target that always looked out of reach. Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 50 late in the innings stretched the lead beyond 450 and left England four sessions to survive rather than a total to chase.
India had taken control in the first innings too. Mandhana’s 83 and near-identical contributions from Harmanpreet (58) and Deepti Sharma (57) took them to 285, and Kranti Gaud’s maiden Test five-for then bundled England out for 170. A first-innings lead of 115 shaped everything that followed.
Kranti Gaud caps a breakout week
Gaud was named Player of the Match for match figures of 5 for 37 and 2 for 54, seven wickets in a game she began as one of India’s less-heralded bowlers. Her first-innings burst earned a place on the Lord’s honours board, the kind of week that can reshape a young quick’s career.
England’s late resistance
The chase never seriously threatened, but England made India work through the fourth day. Amy Jones top-scored with 54 and Sophie Ecclestone struck a defiant 50 down the order, the pair adding respectability to a total that had slumped to 59 for 5. Sneh Rana was the chief tormentor with 4 for 42, while Sayali Satghare and Deepti Sharma mopped up the rest.
Ecclestone had already left her mark with the ball. Her 5 for 118 in India’s second innings, a marathon 33.3-over shift, put her name on the Lord’s honours board as well, small comfort on a chastening week for the hosts.
A farewell and a new marker
The Test doubled as a send-off. Both Tammy Beaumont and former captain Heather Knight are retiring from international cricket, and the occasion closed the book on two players who shaped England’s women’s game for more than a decade. For India, the win is a measure of how far the side has come in the longest format, earned with bat and ball across four disciplined days at the home of the game.