IND-W vs ENG-W: Deepti Sharma's five-fer puts India Women in driver's seat vs England Women in Only Test

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IND-W vs ENG-W: The five-wicket haul from Deepti Sharma on Day 2 of the only Test against England Women has put the hosts on the cusp of a memorable win at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Four India Women batters - Shubha Satheesh, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues - hit fifty to help their team finish at 428 runs in 104.3 overs. There were handy contributions from Harmanpreet Kaur (49) and Sneh Rana (30) as well.

Picture Credit: @M_Raj03

Lauren Bell and Sophie Ecclestone claimed 3 wickets each, while Kate Cross, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, and Charlie Dean took 1 wicket each. But what followed was highly unexpected. Despite being favourites going into the Test match - the first for India Women at home since 2014 - England's batting unit collapsed like a house of cards.

England Women's response saw wickets falling regularly, stabilizing momentarily before a collapse. Notable contributions came from Natalie Sciver-Brunt with 59 runs off 70 balls, lacking support as others fell quickly. England was bowled out for 136 in 35.3 overs, with Deepti Sharma shining, taking 5 wickets for just 7 runs in 5.3 overs, aided by Sneh Rana's 2 wickets for 25 runs.

India, opting not to enforce the follow-on, began their second innings. The opening pair, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, added 61 runs before Verma departed for 33, while Mandhana scored 28.

Jemimah Rodrigues contributed 27 runs, Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana fell quickly, but Harmanpreet Kaur, unbeaten on 44*, anchored the innings alongside Pooja Vastrakar (17*). They've built a partnership of 53* for the 7th wicket. India concluded the day at 186/6 after 42 overs, holding a lead of 478 runs over England.

With figures of 4/68 in 19 overs, Charlie Dean was England's pick of the bowlers. Sophie Ecclestone got a couple of wickets as well, despite looking exhausted near the end. Off-spinners Deepti Sharma and Charlie Dean had a field day today, so it was a good day for the spinners.

A memorable day for the bowlers of Navi Mumbai. As many as 19 wickets fell during the day as the Test match progressed at breakneck speed. At the end of the day, India Women had all the aces, leading by 478 runs with 4 second-innings wickets in hand.