Sneh Rana, making her international comeback after more than five years, hit a brilliant unbeaten 80 and shared an unbroken 108-run stand for the ninth wicket with Taniya Bhatia (44 not out) that helped India Women secure a memorable draw in the one-off Test versus their England counterparts at the County Ground in Bristol on Saturday.
India were wobbling at 199/7 at one stage in the fourth and final day, but Sneh, showing wonderful composure and temperament in her maiden Test, successfully kept the hosts at bay throughout her stay in the middle.
She first stitched a gritty 41-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Shikha Pandey and thereafter found a wonderful ally in the form of Taniya — another debutant — who too showed tremendous temperament in such a pressure situation. What stood out was the duo’s positive intent as they never thought twice about playing strokes when the ball was there to be hit. For sure, survival wasn’t the only focus of Sneh and ’keeper-batswoman Taniya.
“It’s an emotional moment for me, being picked by an Indian team after five long years. Truly, a proud moment for me... From here, I’m taking so much of confidence,” Sneh, who lost her father earlier this year, told Sky Sports later.
Talking about her approach, Sneh said she wanted to make sure she kept things simple. “I just thought of sticking to my basics and play according to the merit of the ball. That’s it.
“I just looked to play the ball. If there was one loose ball, I tried to make sure I got a boundary off it. That’s it,” she said.
Heaping praise on Sneh and Taniya, skipper Mithali Raj, who didn’t have a good time with the bat in this game, emphasised that the result would certainly have a positive impact on the team going forward.
“I think it’s amazing. After the first innings collapse and being asked to follow on, Sneh stood up while Deepti Sharma played a very important role. And Sneh then was supported by the other players like Taniya and Shikha.
“The debutants stood up when it was required. When we have a positive environment in the dressing room in spite of players not having much experience of the red ball, they don’t come in with a lot of baggage.
“This Test match will definitely go down as one of the most important ones because we’re coming back and playing in the red-ball format after a seven-year gap,” Mithali said at the post-match presentation.
Earlier, Deepti produced a dogged resistance with a 168-ball 54 after India lost Shafali Verma (63) early on the final day. Deepti then joined hands with Punam Raut (39) and added 72 runs to take India to 171 for three at lunch.
But the visitors lost four quick wickets for 28 runs to stare down the barrel at one stage before Rana and Pandey batted for almost 17 overs to stem the rot as India took tea at 243 for 8 with 40 overs still remaining in the match.
The Player of the Match award, however, went to debutant Shafali for half-centuries in both innings. “Thanks to our team for supporting me in my journey,” the youngster said.
“I was just thinking of playing to my strengths and with confidence, and according to my cricket. That’s all. Senior players are always giving me confidence and they compliment me before I go out to bat. That matters a lot for me. But yeah, I was really disappointed to miss out on a hundred,” she added.
Brief scores: England Women 396/9 decl. India 231 & 344/8 (S. Rana 80 n.o.). Match drawn