The equation is simple: India Women need another 82 runs to make England Women bat again at Bristol. England need nine wickets, for which they have another day’s cricket. Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma, two of three Indians who batted well in the first innings, are out there. And India bat until No. 11, though eight of them had failed in the first innings.
And then, there is rain. Only 45.5 overs of cricket was possible on Day 3, and things may get worse on Day 4. England do have a world-class spinner in Sophie Ecclestone, whose triple blow on the third morning made the follow on happen, but her sole support is captain Heather Knight, whose off-breaks – bowled despite a bad back – have fetched her two wickets. Another spinner might have spelled doomsday for India.
Of course, the turning pitch, the rain, the quality of the English attack, none of that had any impact whatsoever on Verma. She had blazed away to 96 in characteristic fashion in the first innings before trying to clear the in-field once too many and perishing.
She came out in the second innings with no intention to restrain herself whatsoever. Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole’s experience or stature did not matter. By lunch she was on 20, from 14 balls: her runs had come in five hits to the fence. Typical.
Day 4 is likely to be a contest between Verma and Ecclestone. Verma is likely to take on Ecclestone, even against the turn. While that may take India closer to that all-important initial target of 165, it may also lead to her playing a false shot. And if that happens, the big guns – Punam Raut, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur – have to rise to the challenge. They may seek inspiration in Sharma, who has faced 139 balls in this Test match without getting out.
All in all, if rain permits, the last day is likely to produce attritional batting of the highest order against some of the finest bowlers in the world.
Brief scores
England Women 396/9 decl. (Heather Knight 95; Sneh Rana 4-131) lead India Women 231 (Shafali Verma 96; Sophie Ecclestone 4-88) and 83/1 (Shafali Verma 55*; Katherine Brunt 1-21) by 82 runs.