England won the toss and elected to field first against India in the one-off Women's Test at Lord's on Friday, a historic match that marks the first Women's Test ever played at the iconic venue. Opener Smriti Mandhana reached a major career milestone by making her 300th international appearance.
Mandhana's milestone
Mandhana, who will turn 30 on July 18, became the youngest woman cricketer to achieve the 300-international milestone. She is only the 12th player in women's international cricket to reach this feat and the third Indian after Mithali Raj (333 matches) and Harmanpreet Kaur (374).
Historic first at Lord's
The match is the 56th Women's Test to be staged in England, with the previous 55 having been played across 19 different venues. County Ground, Worcester, hosted the most Women's Tests in England with nine between 1951 and 2009, followed by The Oval with six between 1937 and 1976. This is the first time the women's side has played a Test at Lord's, the Home of Cricket.
Rivalry and recent form
The contest is the 16th Women's Test between England and India. India holds the upper hand in the rivalry with three victories, while England's lone win came by just two runs at Jamshedpur in 1995 – still the narrowest victory by runs in Women's Test history. The remaining 11 encounters have ended in draws. This is India's 10th Women's Test in England; the visitors have won two of their previous nine Tests on English soil, with the other seven finishing as draws. The teams last met in England in a one-off Test in June 2021, which ended in a draw. Their most recent Test clash came in Navi Mumbai in December 2023, where India registered a commanding 347-run victory.
Tammy Beaumont's farewell
The match also marks the final international appearance for England batter Tammy Beaumont. Beaumont, the only England woman to score a double century in Test cricket, will retire at the conclusion of the match. She is also only the second woman in history to score international centuries in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
Team line-ups
England are playing their 103rd Women's Test, while India are featuring in their 43rd. Playing XIs: England Women: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt (captain), Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wicketkeeper), Mady Villiers, Sophie Ecclestone, Issy Wong, Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer. India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sayali Satghare, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud.
