Richa Ghosh’s double-pronged brilliance stuns England at Lord’s
As the Indian women's cricket team called the shots at Lord’s at the end of Day 3, Richa Ghosh commandeered India’s late charge with an unbeaten 50 off just 52 balls as India secured a staggering lead of 456 runs before eventually declaring their second innings.
Richa Ghosh walked out to bat after Deepti Sharma was dismissed, as India experienced a slight wobble in the middle order. However, Richa was quick to get into the groove, motoring along at decent pace as India found their rhythm again. Ghosh’s first boundary came against Sophie Ecclestone as the former flicked one off her pads to the fence.
Ghosh doubled the charge a ball later when Ecclestone’s fuller delivery outside off was being slashed away to the ropes as well. Ecclestone somehow failed to contain Richa and the 22-year-old batter made merry, toting India on her shoulders and doing so in style.
She brought up her half-century against Ecclestone, driving her through covers for a single. That was also the cue for Harmanpreet Kaur that India has had enough and she decided to declare the innings. India had enough time to rattle the English feathers and the bowlers eventually did so.
Not only did Richa impress with the bat but in the field, she was equally brilliant. She claimed the crucial catch of Heather Knight but saved the best for the last. Her stunning catch at silly point, which was a burning testimony to her razor-sharp reflexes as Sneh Rana removed the set Mady Villiers. At the end of the day’s play, England were wobbling at 130/6, still needing 327 runs to win the game.
