India Women had a busy year in 2006. All three Test matches that year involved India: they touring Australia and England, and even played their first-ever T20 International that same year.
The prelude
India Women team lost the Test match against Australia and the ODI series in England 0-4. Then the Test series went underway at Grace Road.
The Indians took a first-innings lead, but England came back strongly thanks to Claire Taylor’s century. Chasing 271, India were reduced to 50/5, but they Indians fought hard to save the Test match. Rumeli Dhar, Amita Sharma, and Nooshin Al Khadeer, India’s Nos. 7 to 9, ensured England did not get more than eight wickets.
The teams travelled to Taunton for the second Test. They had played in Taunton before, in 2002. Mithali Raj had scored 214 on that occasion, at that point the highest score in Women’s Test cricket.
Four years down the line, Raj was leading India. The team also boasted of stars like Anjum Chopra, Jhulan Goswami, Amita Sharma, and Dhar. But England – featuring captain Charlotte Edwards, Claire Taylor, Jenny Gunn, Laura Marsh, Isa Guha, Holly Colvin, and a young Sarah Taylor – were the stronger side on paper.
Raj, Chopra rebuild
Raj won the toss and opted to bat. India lost both openers by 40. Then Raj (65) and Chopra (98) altered the course of the match by adding 136 for the third wicket. The partnership was eventually broken by Gunn.
Chopra added 61 with Dhar (43) before being finally dismissed by Guha. India eventually reached 307. Guha’s 40 overs of toil fetched her 4-61.
The Goswami barrage
Then Goswami tore into the England batters. She took the first three wickets in no time, reducing England to 22/3. With Sharma and Dhar also taking a wicket each, England lost half of their side for 40.
Edwards, not fully fit and batting down the order, provided some resistance. was not well and did not bat in her usual middle-order position. However, it was her 26 from No. 8 and Jane Smit’s 15 that took England to 84/6.
Goswami returned to dismiss Edwards and Laura Marsh with back-to-back deliveries. She finished with 5-33, while Sharma and Dhar got two wickets each.
England were bowled out for 99. For the first time in
The Goswami barrage: redux
Goswami continued with her demolition. She got Laura Newton cheaply, but England were not ready to give up. Caroline Atkins (68) provided the first line of resistance. At 34/2, Edwards emerged at her No. 4 spot. The pair added 178. Edwards (105) recorded her third Test century.
England finished Day 3 on 205/2, the innings defeat as good as averted. But Goswami, rejuvenated after much-needed rest, now ran through England. She dismissed Edwards for a second time in the match. Then, in tandem with Nooshin Al Khadeer, she routed England for 305. The pair shared seven out of the last eight wickets.
Goswami got her second five-wicket haul of the match and finished with match figures of 10-78. Al Khadeer got 3-58 as England’s second innings closed on 305.
History
India needed 98 to win. Sulakshana Naik (21) and Karu Jain (34) quickly took them to 52/1, then 71/2. Then they lost three wickets in the space of three runs.
But Raj stayed firm, as did debutant Reema Malhotra. India did not lose another wickets en route to their first win against England.
Brief scores
India Women 307 (Anjum Chopra 98; Isa Guha 4-61) and 98/5 (Jain 34; Colvin 2-26) beat England Women 99 (Charlotte Edwards 26; Jhulan Goswami 5-33) and 305 (Charlotte Edwards 105; Jhulan Goswami 5-45) by 5 wickets.
India Women won the series 1-0.