{"success":true,"data":{"id":"c2c4973e-a2c8-41fe-ba31-29aa719f2972","title":"England toil as India take control in front of record crowd","summary":"Close menu A-Z Sports England toil as India take control on day two Figure caption, Gaud finishes with 5-37 to become the first woman on the Test honours board By Ffion Wynne BBC Sport journalist at Lord's Published 11 July 2026, 18:37 BST England v India, one-off Test, Lord's India 285 (Mandhana 83...","content":"Close menu\n\n**A-Z Sports**\n\n# England toil as India take control on day two\n\nFigure caption, \n\nGaud finishes with 5-37 to become the first woman on the Test honours board\n\nBy Ffion Wynne\n\nBBC Sport journalist at Lord's\n\n*   Published 11 July 2026, 18:37 BST \n\n**England v India, one-off Test, Lord's**\n\n**India 285**(Mandhana 83; Ecclestone 3-68) **& 154-1**(Mandhana 69*; Ecclestone 1-46)\n\n**England 170**(Jones 52; Gaud 5-37)\n\n_India lead by 269_\n\n**England face an uphill battle to avoid defeat in the one-off Test at Lord's as India took control on day two.**\n\nResuming on 21-1 in reply to India's first-innings 285, England were skittled for 170 to give the tourists a lead of 115.\n\nOn another hot day and in improved batting conditions, India finished 154-1 - an ominous lead of 269 - as England's bowlers toiled and lacked wicket-taking threat on a flat surface.\n\nSmriti Mandhana reached another classy half-century and remains unbeaten on 69 after adding 88 for the first wicket with Shafali Verma, who fell to Sophie Ecclestone for 33.\n\nEarlier, Kranti Gaud made history as the first woman to earn her place on the Lord's Test honours board with a fine spell of 5-37 as England struggled against her disciplined accuracy.\n\nHaving removed Tammy Beaumont the previous evening, Gaud continued to work through the top order. Maia Bouchier was caught behind for 23 and Alice Capsey was bowled with a nip-backer for nine before she claimed the key wicket of captain Nat Sciver-Brunt lbw for 44.\n\nSciver-Brunt and Amy Jones provided England's only real resistance with a fifth-wicket stand of 84, but Jones' departure for 52 sparked a dismal collapse of the last six wickets for just 39 runs.\n\nDespite a tough day, the biggest positive for England was the world record attendance for a single day at a women's Test match - the crowd figure of 15,243 beating the previous best of 11,918 at Melbourne for the Women's Ashes in 2025.\n\nWith two more days of good weather expected, India have the chance to keep a tired England toiling and bat them out of the game on day three.\n\n## Gaud exposes England's batting\n\nFigure caption, \n\n'They lose their captain!' - Sciver-Brunt goes with England toiling\n\nWhile there was some turn for England's spinners on the first day, the pitch appeared easier for batting after a day basked in the London heat which makes Sciver-Brunt's decision to bowl first more questionable.\n\nYet England could not capitalise as the exceptionally talented Gaud, at just 22 years old, and the rest of India's attack executed a simple gameplan of endlessly bowling a good line and length and the hosts were exposed.\n\nWhether it was a combination of general fatigue post-T20 World Cup or that they are simply not used to batting for such long periods of time remains unclear, but arguably only Capsey could say she got a genuinely good ball that nipped between bat and pad.\n\nBouchier wafted unnecessarily outside the off stump, Heather Knight played around a straight one from Sayali Satghare for six and Jones suffered a lapse in concentration to prod spinner Sneh Rana to short leg.\n\nWhen Sciver-Brunt was struck on the front pad, England's long tail had far too much to do, and there were heart-warming scenes when Lauren Bell was brilliantly dismissed by Shafali's rebound catch at slip for Gaud's fifth wicket.\n\nA beaming Gaud raised the ball to an applauding Lord's pavilion as she led India off the field having put her side in a commanding position for victory.\n\n## Bowlers facing a brutal day three\n\nFigure caption, \n\nEcclestone finds breakthrough for England\n\nEngland's bowlers did little wrong with the ball, as they plugged away for an hour before tea and throughout a difficult lengthy evening session.\n\nIt was a daunting task for them with minimal rest after the first innings, and having to contend with a big deficit that allowed India's top order to play with freedom and confidence knowing that they could still trust the surface.\n\nBell was particularly metronomic as she conceded just 16 from her 11 wicketless overs, while Issy Wong steamed in with her usual energy and passion.\n\nMandhana was open about her frustration after falling for 83 on day one and failing to kick on to a century, and she looked in the mood to settle in with the potential and fluency to bat for another day.\n\nShe took on Ecclestone effectively down the ground, with England's spinners unable to extract as much turn from the surface to put doubt in the batters' minds.\n\nAlongside Shafali, the left and right-handed combination troubled England's bowlers. The pair are a force to be reckoned with in the format as they became the first partnership in the women's game to bring up 900 Test match runs as a pair, averaging 75.08 together in 13 innings.\n\nEcclestone gave England the opening by removing Shafali, caught by sub fielder Emma Lamb, but Mandhana found valuable support from Yastika Bhatia who will resume alongside the opener on 39 on the third day.\n\nEngland will hope for more assistance from the surface when play resumes, especially for a bowling attack unused to putting in such long shifts.\n\n## Related topics\n\n## More on this story\n\n    \n\n    *   Published 8 June \n\n## Shorts\n\nPrevious Next, 4 of 5\n\n*   1:01 Meet the fan behind Norway's Viking row. 00:01:01, play video Meet the fan behind Norway's Viking row![Image 2: Mr Row Row](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/400/cpsprodpb/ee10/live/6fbd0b50-7d4d-11f1-bee8-53ce494e1abc.jpg) \n*   0:49 2006 vs 2026 England Icons! 00:00:49, play video 2006 vs 2026 England Icons!![Image 3: Theo Walcott](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/400/cpsprodpb/b842/live/a6f57120-7d43-11f1-bee8-53ce494e1abc.jpg) \n*   0:40'I put my honeymoon on hold for England' 00:00:40, play video'I put my honeymoon on hold for England'![Image 4: England fan](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/400/cpsprodpb/aa4e/live/bea94e40-7d48-11f1-926f-c90d1bcfbc84.jpg) \n*   0:36 F1's Arvid Lindblad backs England to win. 00:00:36, play video F1's Arvid Lindblad backs England to win![Image 5: Arvid Lindblad](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/400/cpsprodpb/4d2f/live/35a70b60-7d33-11f1-b976-0b9c15b0ccfc.jpg) \n*   0:38 Why has Erling Haaland added 'Braut' to Norway shirt? 00:00:38, play video Why has Erling Haaland added 'Braut' to Norway shirt?![Image 6: Erling Braut Haaland](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/400/cpsprodpb/a8dc/live/c8359150-7cd8-11f1-bee8-53ce494e1abc.jpg) \n\n    \n\n    *   15745 viewing 16k viewing \n\n    \n\n    *   Published 13 hours ago \n\n    \n\n    *   Published 10 hours ago \n\n## Elsewhere on the BBC\n\n## Elsewhere in Sport","source_name":"BBC News","source_url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c1wyv9zeq5eo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c1wyv9zeq5eo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss","author":"Unknown Author","author_name":"Unknown Author","published_at":"2026-07-11T18:07:06.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-11T18:07:06.000Z","image_url":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/815/cpsprodpb/b2c7/live/922d6170-544c-11ef-aebc-6de4d31bf5cd.jpg","category":"world","topic":"world","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":6,"word_count":1021,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot"}}