England vs India: England dominated by India in front of record breaking crowd on Day 2 at Lords

0:01Yeah, gone! Gone! He gets his fairytale ending! An epic way to go to a Test Match 100. The London Spirit of First Time win is the most remarkable thing you'll probably ever see in cricket. 604 and final Test Wicket for Stuart Ford. It's ended, we'll win the T20 World Cup. England's captain Ben Stokes, while he is there, England have hope.

0:31Hello and welcome. It's day two here at Laws and the historic test match between England's women and those of India. England resumed on 21 for one, 264 runs behind India's first innings total. And that's probably about as good as it got, to be honest with you. The day has been utterly dominated by the visitors. I'm in the company of Mel Jones and Charles Dagnall. Fortunately for you and for me, they're both very positive characters. So, Mel, I guess I'll start with you. England, as we speak at the moment, are 259 runs behind India, who are just striding forward, only one wicket down. It's not looking good for England, is it?

1:12Well, I'll start with another positive. Go on, positive. Record crowd for a women's test match. Let's put that in there. 15 ,500. About 4 ,000. There we go. 4 ,000 more than the next best, isn't it? So it certainly works in terms of eyeballs. Hats off to MCC, ECB. And I think also just the build around the 100 as well. And there's just that sort of momentum. And I think they've enjoyed it too. A lot of people sort of both flags on the face. Sort of sitting in both camps. So they've enjoyed both what India have produced and smattering of England. But it's going to be a long, hard slog to call. Is it?

1:49Well, you're not in both camps ever, are you? It's anyone but England for you. Well, that's the old saying, isn't it? Yeah, it's fair. Fair. But Daggers, let's start off with the... Yeah, because it goes downhill pretty much after the great crowd. It does. Let's start with a brilliant performance. England, in the end, were bundled out for 170 in just under 60 overs. Thanks largely to a brilliant young cricketer by the name of Cranty Gowd. It was great to see, not from an England fan's perspective, of course, but it was great to see how to bowl on this surface. We were waxing, not lyrical, but about the way that England bowled on the first session of the first day and the width that they bowled with, the length differential was vast.

2:33And we actually looked at a beehive of the areas that England bowled and the spread was huge. Whereas Kranty Gowdler's come in, 21, 22 years old, and has had a big say in the recent World Cup. Second, isn't it? Second, yeah. Had a huge say in the World Cup. and she just hit the channels as though she was an experienced veteran. Put it on a length, allowed the surface to dictate, just nibbled it, challenging both edges of the back, but bowled stump to stump. And on here, she cleaned up with the LBWs. She had a bowl, she had a nick behind, which was brilliantly caught on the second attempt by Shefali Verma.

3:13But I also think that she bowled the right pace on here. It sounds strange to say this, But Izzy Wong and Krenting Goud have been the most, and Silas Etkere as well, bowled that slightly slower pace than a bell or a filer, which allowed the ball to grip on the surface and deviate that little bit more. And I thought she was wonderful. She kept it so simple. And England had just no answers. They ran out of patience. They didn't, I think, have the technique to cope with the moving ball off the seam. And the 170 all out really displays that. Yeah, 5 for 70 for Kranty Gould. Operating mainly from the nursery end.

3:57Great line, great length. And good wicket. Well, impressive wickets too, isn't it? Yeah, I'm just looking down the list. Tammy Beaumont, Maya Boushier, she nicked off first this morning. Then Alice Capsie was bold playing what looked on the face of it an immaculate forward defensive. She got rid of Nat Siver-Brunt as well. I mean, you know, the list goes on. She basically knocked over the cream of England's batting. Yeah, and that's what she'll be probably most proud of as well. You can get a fifa and then there's who you get as that fifa. And to be the first player up on the honours board too from the women's game.

4:32And I think we would have all thought, it's going to be Smriti, day one. And who wouldn't think that? But then for this youngster who has impressed, we're chatting about it on air, she comes from a very small rural section of India and has struggled, struggled financially with support and things like that. So for a youngster to come through and shine on the biggest stage and not get overawed by things. And it was just some of the best footage today of her holding the ball up to the crowd. Huge smile. Biggest green, yeah. She'll be in there putting it on the masking tape to start with and then we'll hopefully get the option of sitting there and watching it get actually chiselled in.

5:10What would you call it? Stenciled. Thank you so much. Or tattooed, as we were talking about tattoos before. She may well get one after. She may have a lot of pavilion on the arm or something like that. It was a stunning performance from her, very ably supported by Snorana, the off-spinner. Satgari with two for 40 as well I mean it was a very professional performance from India and England didn't really have any answers Amy Jones though made a made a very nice 50 there was a small period there wasn't there when Nat Siverbrunt and Amy Jones were together where England rallied a little yeah they came in what 47 for four I think it was they came together and there needed to be a little bit of onus put back on the opposition bowlers and I thought Amy Jones did that really really well.

5:55Matt Silverbrunt was playing more of an anchor role and you needed to counter-attack. You needed to actually try and put the foot down a little bit against the ball rather than allow the Indian bowlers to settle in. I thought Jones did this really well really well. The one black mark against Amy Jones and she was by far and away the best of England's batters. Situational play has been not necessarily a strong suit of Amy Jones 10 minutes before the lunch break she just got to her 50 obviously took the applause and then she was dismissed 10 minutes before lunch that gave the initiative back to India had she been there and had Nat Silverbrunt been there after the lunch interval I actually think they would have kicked on but I think India come out from lunch really fresh no having you know the lower middle order to then attack and the fact that that Cranti got Nat Silverbrunt to arguably the worst review in history of cricket with a ball that was knocking all three over.

6:53She decided to use a review. It was the last refuge of a scoundrel. It really was. So, yeah, when you look at it, that situational play might butt. And you wouldn't have minded if it was a really definitive shot and it was a good ball, but it was from the crease. It wasn't playing forward, it wasn't playing back, and it was just a nothing shot, just allowing India back in. Yeah, a little bit of a switch-off moment, I'm afraid, which rather summed up England's batting. Dismissed for 170, less than 60 overs, as I mentioned before, leaving India with a lead of 115. England needed to come out and take wickets.

7:31They needed to be buzzing. They needed to find the right line and length. Any of those things happen to you, Charles? No, no, no. No, they didn't. No. Yeah. They're both tighter. I mean, Lauren Bell looked in much better rhythm because she looked all at sea in the World T20 final against Australia here on this ground. in the first innings, she didn't look herself at all. Her first spell, you know, going at seven and over, which is very un-Lauren Bell-like, especially given what we've seen over the last couple of years. But I thought she looked in much better rhythm. But again, the consistency of areas were not really testing Smriti and Shefali Verma.

8:06Shefali wasn't really tested with any short stuff. And I say there's a difference between bowling short and bowling a bouncer. And Lauren Filer tried a couple with Smriti Mandana, and they were dispatched with great disdain over towards the mound stand. She didn't try that with Shefali Verma. So I thought England allowed the game to meander because the right arm seam attack was relatively samey. They didn't introduce spin for quite some time. They had one over of Sophie Eccleston, which I think went for nine. And then they continued with seam. It took an age to see Matty Villiers. And look, if you...

8:46They didn't want it to bowl her to Vermity, think? Well, maybe so, but I wouldn't mind her bowling to Smriti Mandana, who has, you know, a deficiency against offspin. Charlie Dean's had her number for the early part of this summer, and historically, it's been an area of concern for Smriti. So I'm not quite sure. I just thought that they lacked intent, England. What am I going to do to get a wicket? What field am I going to set? But making batters think and try and grab the game by the scruff of the neck rather than allow it to drift. And that's what it felt like to me. I don't know about you. Yeah, 100%.

9:25And we chatted about it on air. Spinners probably bowling wrong ends too. Wasn't being advantageous to their skill set to take the ball down the slope, up the slope of your left arm or right arm. Orthodoxy sort of looked at it and there was no slips in play. when you had moments, Easy Wong came on only probably half an hour ago, looking to bowl that outside off stump line, but there was no slip in place. So then you're thinking, where's the wicket going to come from? And, you know, both of you know me quite well. A lot of it is about, and maybe this is the Australian bravado, but sometimes you've got to fake it till you make it.

9:58But that drinks break, people sitting down, lounging around, and it was just the lack of body language to be able to say, we're still in this, we're going to fight all the way through. So there's just that one chance, half a chance, we're ready for it. And I have not seen that either. I have an issue. When you're 180 behind, you know, India were 65 without loss, you're losing the game. If you look at history, the record run chases in Test cricket and the women's game, 198, you are losing the game. So why don't you go down in flames trying to make something happen? Put a short leg in, put a slip in, put a silly point in.

10:33But batters are thinking, well, hang on a sec, we're in the ascendancy here. Yet you're trying to do something, to create something. And I like, even if it doesn't work, well, no matter. Doesn't matter. Yeah, fair enough. Well, as we speak, India 154 for a while. We haven't, we've mentioned Smitty in passing, but she has looked absolutely regal in the middle, finishes the day 69 not out. She went past 50 mil while we were on air. and the look on her face wasn't, oh, isn't that rather good? I'm going to rest on my laurels now. It was like I could probably make 200 here and we've still got a day to bowl England out.

11:10There was a rumour that Sachin Tendulkar was at the ground today. Now, we haven't seen him, but I think he has been. He was at Wynwood in a couple of days ago. So I'm tipping he's popped in. He's in the area. We had Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli during the T20 World Cup as well. So the Indian men have come along and supported the women. And it's well known that Sachin not only didn't get 100 here, he didn't get a 50 here, average 19, I think. Smitty Mundana, I think, is well and truly set to create something a little bit special. She's not going to let the youngster gourd be the only one to pop onto the board.

11:41Yeah, I was just thinking that she's got a strip of masking tape just prepared already for her and she will be darned if she's... She won't get ahead of the game. I think someone else might. No, but do you know what? Jim probably getting ready for her. I think that is something that all the cricketers would love to have their name on that honours board. But I think that drives someone like Smriti Mandana to be that much more dialed in. And I wouldn't bet against it tomorrow. Both of you guys have been in India more recently than I. Just how big a star is she over there? You can't turn a corner.

12:15Put it into some sort of context. I didn't sort of get, I've not covered the IPL. And covering the WPL along with Mel is a huge thrill. And to see women's cricket in that environment and to see it. And we didn't get to Bangalore until the second season. Yeah. And I went out to do a toss and I've never heard anything like it. I genuinely haven't. As soon as the coin went up, there was noise anyway. But as soon as Spritty won the toss, I could not hear, I couldn't hear anything in my ears. I couldn't hear myself think. And that was in Bangalore and that sort of spreads throughout the country. You know, having, you know, Indian cricketers, you'll know better than me, but they're sort of idols in that respect.

13:03And Smriti is right up there. Is that fair? Oh, no, without a doubt. So there's the noise at the ground and then there's every city you go to. We were in Indor for the 50-over World Cup. And Indor's not one of the largest cities. And then every – you'd go for a walk for a coffee, try and find a good coffee. And every corner you would turn, there's her face, like on a billboard. Then you get back to the hotel and you switch the TV on and then every second ad, there she is with something else. So there's the fandom of her as an amazing player. And then there's the recognition and awareness of the corporate sponsors and world saying, this is someone we want to attach ourselves and align ourselves to for a very long time.

13:42How does that feel to you? I mean, you know, a huge ambassador for the women's game that you've been, a very successful player, great broadcast and all the rest of it, and you've kind of watched women's cricket gain prominence throughout all this time. How does it feel to have somebody, a contemporary, I suppose, of yours? I'm saying that because you're obviously very young still. But no, how does that feel to see a female cricket player in that sort of rarefied atmosphere? I think, you know, people say, did you ever believe this would happen, you know, a test match at Lords and things like that?

14:18And I sort of think, well, yeah, probably if I put my mind to it, you know, yes. This side of it, though, is slightly different. The money that she is now gaining because of her skill and her popularity is one that you'd probably never even thought of. And that's the piece that you go, oh, the game really is changing. This is brilliant. And I think it will filter down. Jimmy Rodericks will come through the game. the Humminpree Corps there already, but the next youngster's Kranty Gowd. Like you think he's just got a five foot lord. How does that change her life? And that smile would have lit up St.

14:50John's Wood even on the darkest, dankest winter night here in England. A hundred percent. In England. Yeah, going in the right direction. Yeah, great stuff. Okay, well, I think we'll probably leave it there. India, stumps on day two, two days left. Remember, it's 100 overs a day, not that we've got anywhere near getting 100 overs in, by the way, so it's not just the men who take their time. So, yeah, India, 269 runs ahead. nine second in its innings wickets in hand. And for England, it looks like it's going to be a very, very tough day on day three. The sun will be shining. We will be here. Hope you've enjoyed it.

15:24We'll speak to you tomorrow.