The fall of Shikha Pandey’s wicket in the 90th over of the India Women innings while following on was thought to be the demolition of the last bridge between draw an English victory. More than 41 overs were to be bowled, India were 240-8 and had a slight lead of just 75 runs with two women in the middle who failed miserably in the first innings. It was more than enough for the fans and even to an extent for players to lose belief.
But there was something about the white bandana, hair falling sideways and a Dhoni-like helmet that Sneh Rana was spotting. They were the distractions for people who weren’t able to see the determination in her eyes and the poise on her face, slightly hidden in that occasional nonchalant smile that was on display throughout her innings.
Joining her was the wicketkeeper batter in Taniya Bhatia, batting at number 10, probably for the first time in her international career. After getting out for a duck in the first innings, she got the flak from the media and her team, so much so that bowlers like Pooja Vastrakar and Shikha were sent ahead of her. There was a point to prove and she knew very well that the only way she could do it was by saving the game, which looked like a difficult probability by all means.
Rana at that point was batting at 27 and she had not had a good game with the bat either, falling for just 2 in her debut Test innings. When they started to settle down, it was taken to be a small halt in English victory till the new ball arrived. Well, the new ball did arrive and Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Natalie Sciver and Sophie Ecclestone, all tried their level best, but couldn’t break the partnership between Rana and Bhatia.
After the first 25 overs of resistance, when the Indian lead crossed the 100 run mark and the 27-year-old Rana, who dedicated her four-wicket haul in the first innings to her deceased father, notched up her maiden fifty in the debut Test, Bhatia started to open up as well.
The two ladies played exquisite drives, mostly punching off the backfoot. Both of them started searching for the individual milestone as, before the amicable end of the play was reached by the two teams mutually, Bhatia was just six runs short of becoming the fourth Indian woman to hit a half-century on Test debut in this game. Prior to her, Rana, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma achieved the feat.
The thumping four by Rana, which she hit by stepping out of her crease and lifting the bowl towards the square leg boundary with a ferocious jab, was in a way, a stamp of authority of her attitude in the entire second innings. With Inda at 344-8, players shook hands as umpires called it a day on the fourth and last day of the only Test of the tour.
India managed to draw the game and also find two unlikely heroes in Rana and the 23-year-old Bhatia. The two of them added 104 runs unbeaten for the ninth wicket, which was only three short of being the highest ninth-wicket partnership in Women's Test history.
Earlier in the day, the guests started cautiously at their overnight score of 83-1 with Verma and Deepti at the crease. However, having added just 16 runs to the team and nine-run to her individual total, the 17-year-old Verma repeated the same mistake as the one she had committed in the first innings. She hit a juicy full toss over mid-on and Brunt took a brilliant catch running in from long-on to dismiss her of the bowling of Ecclestone.
Deepti took charge after Verma and with Punam Raut as her partner, almost saw off the entire first session without any damage but for the fifth ball of the last over before lunch. In a moment of brain fade, instead of negotiating the last two balls to lunch, she went for a mad slog sweep and missed it, which in turn hit the woodwork behind her. She was also removed by Ecclestone, but not before picking up her maiden Test fifty in only her debut Test match.
Post lunch, India’s wickets started falling at a regular interval with experienced campaigners like skipper Mitahli Raj and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur getting out cheaply. Raut followed them as well. It was then that Rana started building small partnerships, first with Pooja Vastrakar, then with Shikha and eventually Bhatia to salvage a draw for her team.
Reacting to the win and talking about her brilliant performance, Rana said, “It was important to put up a partnership, that's what happened with Shikha and Taniya. It feels great to contribute to the team.” “An emotional moment for me, being picked for the national team after 5 years, I'm very happy. I have never played here before, this knock will give me plenty of confidence going into the white-ball games,” she added.
Shafali Verma, for her brilliant performance with the bat, in which she aggregated 159 runs in the entire game, was adjudged Man of the Match. The two teams would now engage in a three-match ODI series beginning with the first ODI on June 27 at the same ground in Bristol.