England set for heavy defeat to India in Lord's Test as Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont out cheaply in final innings
India's Yastika Bhatia first woman to hit hundred in a Lord's Test; England close on 130-6 in pursuit of record 457 with Tammy Beaumont dismissed for golden duck and Heather Knight out for 13 in pair's final international knocks; watch day four from 10.30am Monday (11am first ball)
Sunday 12 July 2026 20:39, UK
England are hurtling towards a seemingly inevitable defeat to India in the historic Women's Test at Lord's after closing on 130-6 in a record chase of 457, with Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont out cheaply in their final knocks before international retirement.
After being set a world-record target on day three - far beyond the highest successful chase in a Women's Test, the 198 Australia knocked off against England at Sydney in 2011 - the hosts plummeted to 59-5 inside 20 overs on a sun-kissed Sunday in London.
Opener Beaumont was bowled for a golden duck by the relentless Kranti Gaud (2-40), who went on to have Knight caught at short leg off an inside edge for 13 as two of England's greats - both of whom were given guards of honour by India after being dismissed - bowed out.
- Stream England vs India Test contract-free with NOW
- As it happened on day three between England and India
- Listen to episodes of the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt (11) was cleaned up on the sweep by Sneh Rana (2-33), one ball after overturning an lbw, while Maia Bouchier (2) unwisely played back to Sayali Sathgare (2-19) to be pinned in front before the same seamer castled Alice Capsey (21) with a jaffa.
Amy Jones (52no) - who successfully reviewed an lbw dismissal on 34 en route to her second fifty of the game - and Mady Villiers (26) delayed the visitors' march to victory with a stubborn stand of 67 from 105 balls prior to Villiers being superbly caught by Richa Ghosh at mid-off in the dying embers of the day.
India should wrap things up promptly on day four, when entry is free for spectators, and secure back-to-back Test wins over England after a 347-run victory in Navi Mumbai in 2023.
Since an opening day that was arguably honours even, India have utterly bossed this game and moved from their overnight 154-1 to 341-7 before visiting skipper Harmanpreet Kaur eventually put England out of their misery by declaring around 3.10pm local time.
Harmanpreet called time as soon as Ghosh (50no off 52) clinched a half-century - the batter the third player in the innings to pass fifty after Smriti Mandhana (70) and Yastika Bhatia (113), with the latter the first woman to notch a Test ton at Lord's.
England toil at Lord's as India close in
Bhatia's innings could have been cut off from the first ball of the morning, at which point she was on 39, but the bail remarkably stayed on when Lauren Bell struck the off stump.
Bell - who later spent time off the field while abdominal muscle soreness was assessed - denied Mandhana a century when she had the elegant left-hander extremely well caught down the leg-side by wicketkeeper Jones as she leapt one-handed to her right.
However, the seamer - who also bowled Jemimah Rodrigues (3) with a nip-backer - shipped a batch of byes as she lost her radar and England's best bowler, as so often in the past, was spinner Sophie Ecclestone (5-118), who claimed a fourth five-for in 10 Tests and took her number of scalps in this Test to eight.
Ecclestone had become England's leading wicket-taker across all formats during a first-innings three-for - eclipsing Katherine Sciver-Brunt's total of 335 - and extended her tally to 343 as she dismissed, among others, Bhatia caught and Harmanpreet (16) lbw on Sunday.
Harmanpreet's delayed declaration may have been as much about wearying England as it was ensuring Ghosh, dropped on 43 by Wong at long-on, was able to add a Lord's fifty to her CV - and there was a real lethargy about the hosts as wickets tumbled at the start of their second dig.
Beaumont, who announced before this Test that she was done as an England cricketer, and former captain Knight, who went all Ben Stokes and revealed her retirement mid-match, could not enjoy fairytale farewells as they perished to champion quick Gaud.
Gaud had become the first woman on the Lord's Test honours board by dint of her first-innings five-for and now has company after Ecclestone's identical feat and Bhatia's ton, a knock that featured 14 fours, most of them stylish, before she slogged Ecclestone to cover.
Watch day four of the one-off Women's Test between England and India at Lord's live on Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports Main Event from 10.30am on Monday (11am first ball). Stream cricket and more top sport contract-free with NOW.
