At the start they scored quite quickly, we managed to take a couple of wickets and the scoring rate dropped: Natalie Sciver-Brunt

England Women are seemingly staring down the barrel already as India Women are in the box seat in the ongoing sole Test in Navi Mumbai. After bowling out India on 428 early on Day 2, the visitors were hoping to start strong. However, the Indian bowlers put up a stellar bowling display and kept taking wickets at regular intervals.

Especially, the spin bowlers did not let the English side settle down in the middle. Their impact can be understood by the fact that only skipper Natalie Sciver-Brunt managed to score a gritty fifty (59 off 70), while the rest of the side could not withstand the wrath of Deepti Sharma's lethal spin bowling.

Notably, Deepti ran through the England Women's batting lineup and ended up taking a memorable five-wicket haul after conceding just 7 runs during her spell. Not just that, she kept her line and lengths so tight that she also bowled four maiden overs as well. As a result, the English side got folded cheaply for 136 runs on the board. Thereafter, Team India expected to start strongly in a bid to gain a significant lead over the visitors. However, as the pitch was assisting the Indian spinners, Sciver-Brunt decided to let the spinners take charge early on in a bid to contain the domination of the Indian Women.

As a result, despite getting trailed by a massive 478 runs so far in the only Test match, the England Captain believes that her bowlers did reasonably well as the game progressed. Notably, India Women lost wickets in quick time later in the day as they were reduced to 186/6 before stumps on Day 2. Hence, Sciver-Brunt further added that if they apply themselves while at the crease they still have a chance in the game and can bat way better in their second innings while expecting a mammoth target set by the Indian team.

"Felt like a fairly long afternoon. We managed to hang in there and get through that period. Obviously at the start they scored quite quickly and then we managed to take a couple of wickets and the scoring rate dropped," Sciver-Brunt was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"The expectation was that it would bounce a bit more. Just having the intent to score was the main thing for us, always looking for opportunities to pick up runs. That's what we've spoken about really, going forward. We're going to bat again. Having that intent is really important," the England Women skipper added.

The way to come back would be getting really forward or back, That's the plan for everyone: Natalie Sciver-Brunt

Furthermore, discussing the game plan for herself and the England Women batters for the rest of the Test match, Captain Natalie Sciver-Brunt that being a Test wicket, the nature and behaviour of the surface would be different than a T20I game was always on the cards. She mentioned that even though her side has played at this venue in the past, the sub-continent conditions become tougher as the bounce and spin vary compared to the conditions English women are used to playing in.

Sciver-Brunt noted that the pitch is constantly deteriorating and applying her batting basics will be quite vital. Notably, she pointed out the fact that how much to lunge forward and backward to counter spin and lower bounce will be a key factor for all the English batters. Besides, Natalie Sciver-Brunt also pointed out the importance of bringing out her sweep shots against the Indian Women bowlers in the second innings will hopefully help her stay longer on the crease. This will eventually help her talk to her partners and bat as long as they can to remain in the Test match.

"The quality of pitches we play on in white ball cricket is generally very good, don't tend to turn too much. Not too much of a surprise when you come to India to play or any country in the subcontinent. You're going to be expecting slightly slower pitches and take a bit more turn, and play spinners who have a little more experience in those conditions. The way for me to come back would be to make sure that I'm getting really forward or back and using my sweep as best as I can. That's the plan for everyone," Sciver-Brunt concluded.