Englishwomen hold on for draw

However, Birch and Harper, each unbeaten 21, put on 48 runs for the unfinished seventh wicket and enforced a honourable draw. By coincidence, both the Englishwomen faced 96 deliveries in their defiant knocks.

Brighton University linguistics student Birch, who plays for Sussex, struck four boundaries while Harper, who claimed a five-wicket haul in India’s first innings, hit three boundaries.

Even the second new ball, taken at 191 for six after 97 overs, made no difference to the two not out batswomen’s determination and application.

‘‘Full credit must go to the English batswomen for their courageous act. Our bowlers did their best to dislodge them but they hung on. We are disappointed at not being able to win the game,’’ said Indian team coach and former international Sudha Shah.

‘‘We played according to our strategy of attacking them from the beginning, but their batters played well,’’ she added.

The English team captain, Charlotte Edwards, expressed happiness at the outcome.

‘‘Since getting 311 in a single day was very tough, we had decided to occupy the crease for the maximum period. Our plan ultimately succeeded,’’ she said.

India’s most successful bowler in the match, medium pacer Jhulan Goswami, who celebrates her 22nd birthday on Friday, was voted the Woman of the Match and received Rs 25,000, while Anjum Chopra got Rs 10,000 for her batting display.

The two teams now play a five-match one-day series, starting with a game at Faridabad on Sunday. The other matches will be played at Lucknow (Dec. 1), Guwahati (Dec. 4), Silchar (Dec. 7) and Kolkata (Dec. 9).

Brief scores

India 289 and 175-4 decl drew with England 154-9 and 210-6 (C Edwards 46, J Gunn 32, A Brindle 46, R Birch 21 n.o, L Harper 21 n.o; Nooshin-Al-Khadeer 3-30, Jhulan Goswami 1-46, Neetu David 1-46).

Woman of the Match: Jhulan Goswami.