India eves create history

The Indian women's cricket team created history by winning their first ever Test series in England with a five-wicket victory in the second and final Test at Taunton on Friday.

India, chasing a target of 98 in 31 possible overs on the fourth and final day, started badly, losing Rumeli Dhar for four but Karuna Jain and Sulakshana Naik had a steady partnership.

Skipper Mithali Raj ensured she stayed till the end and saw her team through with two overs to spare to clinch the two-Test series 1-0.

The star performer for India, however, was seamer Jhulan Goswami who picked five wickets, a repeat her first innings performance, to bowl England out for 305 in their second innings.

England had closed the penultimate day at a strong 205 for two, following on after conceding a 208-run lead in the first essay.

The 10-wicket haul by Goswami, who bagged both the woman of the match and series awards, was the first ever by an Indian bowler.

She ended up with 15 wickets in two Tests and it was the third consecutive Test in which she had got the woman of the match award.

For coach Sudha Shah, the victory was another feather in her cap.

The former Test player has now coached the team in three significant performances, the first two being the victory over England in the 1999 one-day series and reaching the World Cup final in 2005.

"It was really satisfying to see the team picking themselves up after the ODI series loss and making England follow on for the first time ever.

"In fact, we did well to win the first ever Twenty20 match we played and we dominated in both Tests with our girls taking the first innings lead in both Tests.

"We still have work to do in certain areas, especially our fitness and fielding, but it was a great performance by the girls in this Test."

It marked a remarkable turnaround by the team that had lost the five-match ODI series 4-0.

"I am happy that the team made a strong comeback. The team spirit was high and everyone contributed to the victory," captain Mithali Raj said.

"We need to improve on some areas before we play the quadrangular series next year. Winning a Test series in England was a wonderful experience."

Goswami, who played despite an injury, said: "we had prepared well at the camp at Infosys, Mysore, which helped us.

"Every time I was given the ball, I wanted to give a breakthrough to the team.

"Also, the ODI loss was humiliating and we wanted to prove ourselves. We planned well for the matches."

The last day began with England in a fairly strong position at 205 for two in the second innings with Charlotte Edwards unbeaten on 100.

The hosts, however, got a jolt in the third over of the day with Goswami getting Edwards caught at second slip by Anjum Chopra after she had added just five to her overnight score.

Thereafter, apart from the resistance put up by Sarah Taylor and Beth Morgan, who put on 30 runs for the sixth wicket, and Morgan and Jayne Smith, who added 43 runs for the seventh, England lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 305 runs.

The turning point, besides Edward's wicket, was the fantastic one-handed diving catch by woman of the match Goswami, who caught Morgan inches from the ground at silly mid-on off Noosheen Al Khader.

The Indian team will now play domestic cricket before the Asia Cup in December 2006 in India and the quadrangular series featuring Australia, India, New Zealand and England in February 2007.