Twitter Reactions: Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia star as India pulls off major heist against England

Defying many odds on their way, Indian women pulled off a stunning jailbreak as they drew the one-off affair at Bristol against England on the back of some incredible resilience of the lower-order. Being down and out after being asked to follow on, India batted a whopping 121 overs, 97 of those on the final day, to ensure that they did not mark their return to the format after seven years with a loss. By the end of the affair, the women showed how it is as much of cricket’s loss as theirs if they are not given opportunities to play the format.

Resuming 83/1 on the fourth morning, it did not take long for Sophie Ecclestone to remove India’s biggest hope, Shafali Verma, albeit not before she named another first against her name, belting a six to become the first woman to hit three sixes in a Test. In a rather anticlimactic end, however, she managed to find the hands of a diving Katherine Brunt, as she muscled an Ecclestone full toss down the ground.

Raut, Sharma keep England at bay

With arguably India’s most crucial batter back in the hut, England was kept at bay by the stodgy duo of Punam Raut and Deepti Sharma. The latter showed she had no dearth of patience during her 70-run stand alongside Verma, where she was content playing the perfect foil to her flamboyant partner.

She was again at her attritional best once again in the 72-run stand for the third wicket, en route to which she also brought up her maiden Test fifty that seemingly pushed England on the backfoot despite an early strike. In a bizarre moment, however, Sharma, who was ever so disciplined during the 168-ball stay, tried to fancy a slog-sweep and paid the price with chopping Ecclestone onto her stumps.

Rana, Bhatia rescue after mini-blip 

Having already suffered a horrific collapse in the first innings, a similar narrative unfolded post-Lunch with India losing Raut, Mithali Raj, Pooja Vastrakar, and Harmanpreet Kaur all in quick time. Ecclestone dismissed skipper Raj cheaply for the second time, knocking her down for just 4 before Sciver had Raut caught for 39. Vastrakar showed some intent to up the scoring, hitting three fours off Ecclestone, but her brisk knock was cut short with Heather Knight cleaning her up.

When Kaur top-edged Ecclestone to the keeper for an easy chance, England started smelling victory already. An annoying 41-run partnership for the eighth wicket frustrated them, with Shikha Pandey lasting 50 balls for her 18. Sciver, who had belief-defying figures until one point – nine of her first 10 overs maiden – then struck to get Pandey caught behind at the brink of Tea, still keeping a chance for her team to wrap up India and go for the chase in the final session alive.

Little did England know that would be denied by the grittiest effort of Test batting, with Sneh Rana and Taniya Bhatia making the Bristol surface their home. The two dug themselves in with supreme authority, and while their lasting on the crease was about a combination of determination and patience, they ensured to not go into a cocoon, continuing to score whenever an opportunity arrived.

The duo notched up a record century stand for the ninth wicket, consuming no less than 185 deliveries in the process. Having taken India 179 past England’s first-innings tally following on, the two captains shook hands with 13 overs left in the day.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: