India vs England Women's Test: Mandhana, Deepti power India on Day 1 at Lord's

India and England began the historic first ever women's Test at Lord's on Friday, with the match set to run from 10th July to 13th July .

England won the toss and elected to ball first. They managed to ball India out in 75 overs, but before that India had already posted a competitive total of 286 on the board.

India’s top performing batters on Day 1

Smriti Mandhana was India's top scorer on Day 1 with 83 runs. India, however, had a shaky start as Shafali Verma (0) and Yastika Bhatia (12) were dismissed early. Jemimah Rodrigues also could not convert her start, scoring 35 runs.

Mandhana then stitched together a crucial 89-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur to steady the innings. The stand helped India recover after the early wickets and laid the foundation for a competitive total.

Mandhana was dismissed on the final ball of the 45th over after scoring 83. Harmanpreet continued for a while before being dismissed for 58 in the 52nd over. After the partnership was broken, India looked like they might finish with a lower total.

However, Deepti Sharma then played an important knock lower down the order, scoring 57 runs to push India's total further. Richa Ghosh also added some quick runs towards the end with a 13 run just off 12 balls. Sneh Rana, who had impressed in previous Tests against England in England soil, could not make a big contribution with the bat.

England came out to bat for the final session of the day and reached 21/1 in 11 overs. Kranti Gaud gave India the perfect start with the wicket of Tammy Beaumont, leaving England one wicket down.

Although England will resume Day 2 with wickets in hand, India will be encouraged by both its first innings total and the early breakthrough. Will now look to build on that start and put England under pressure with the ball to end the first innings with a lead.