Kranti Gaud rocks England at Lord’s, becomes first woman on iconic Honors Board

Kranti Gaud scripted history at Lord’s on Saturday, becoming the first woman to earn a place on the iconic Test Honors Board after taking the first five wickets in Test cricket. The 21-year-old seamer finished with exceptional figures of 17-7-37-5 as India bowled out England for 170 in 59.1 overs to take a 115-run first innings lead in the one-off Test.

The feat came in only Gaud’s second Test appearance and at a ground that had delivered heartbreak barely a week ago. During India’s unsuccessful campaign in the Women’s T20 World Cup, Gaud endured a rough outing against Australia at Lord’s, where she dropped 12 runs in a single over as India crashed out of the tournament.

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But this time she returned to the Home of Cricket to create a spell for the ages. Kranti also became the youngest Indian pacer to take 5 wickets in Tests.

Lord’s hosted its first ever women’s Test this week, more than 140 years after the first men’s Test was played at the venue, making Gaud’s achievement all the more significant. Over 10,000 spectators turned up for the historic occasion as India stepped up the competition.

England went on at 21 for 1 in reply to India’s 285, built around half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma. But the hosts could not recover after Gaud tore through their batting order.

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Gaudova struck her first blow late on the opening day when she trapped Tammy Beaumont lbw for two with a delivery that backed up sharply and stayed low. She then removed Maia Bouchier, evoking an outside edge with a wobbly seam that moved down the slope and carried comfortably to Riche Ghosh behind the stumps.

Her best serve of the innings was against Alice Capsey. After repeatedly shaping the ball into the batter, Gaud suddenly found movement that was late to beat Capsey’s defense and send the off stump into motion.

Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones briefly leveled England with a 70-run opening partnership, but Gaud returned to dismiss the England skipper for 44. The right-armer trapped Sciver-Brunt’s plumb in front with another delivery that stuck back into the batter.

Gaud completed her historic five-for when Lauren Bell bowled a full ball into the slips. Sneh Rana didn’t hold on at second slip but Shafali Verma responded brilliantly at first slip to complete the catch, drawing a standing ovation from the Lord’s crowd.

England’s resistance was all out for 170, Jones top-scoring with 52 and Sciver-Brunt 44. Gaud’s heroics ensured that her name would forever be etched in Lord’s folklore.

– The end

Issued by:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published on:

11 Jul 2026 19:59 IST