Yastika Bhatia rode her luck but also batted superbly to become the first woman to score a test century at Lord’s as India closed in on a crushing victory over England on Sunday.
Her hundred was the centrepiece of India’s second innings 341 for seven declared in the inaugural women’s test at ’the Home of Cricket’.
That left the host needing a mammoth 457 to win – the highest successful fourth-innings chase in any women’s test is Australia’s 198 against England in Sydney in 2011.
England, however, collapsed to 34-4 before Amy Jones’s unbeaten fifty helped the recovery to 130 for six at stumps – still 327 runs shy of their imposing target.
But the showpiece match – taking place 142 years and 150 matches on from the first men’s test at Lord’s – will at least now go into Monday’s fourth and final day.
There were no fairytale farewells, however, for England veterans Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight.
Opening bat Beaumont was bowled for a golden duck by the in-form Kranti Gaud in her final international appearance, with the India team forming a guard of honour as she left the field.
Former captain Knight, who after Saturday’s close announced she too would be joining Beaumont in calling time on her England career after this match, fell for 13 after she was caught at short leg off the in-form Gaud.
Knight too received a guard of honour, but might well have traded it for a few more runs.
Earlier, Bhatia was almost dismissed for her overnight 39 off Sunday’s very first ball.
The left-hander was beaten on the inside edge by a Lauren Bell delivery that clipped off stump without dislodging the bails.
But she made the most of her good fortune with several sparkling shots and there were no ’nervous 90s’ for the 25-year-old, who completed her maiden international century in any format in the first over after lunch.
She hit Issy Wong for two fours off consecutive balls - a square drive followed by a carve to point – to go to 99 – before a quick single off the fast bowler saw Bhatia to a 145-ball hundred including 12 boundaries.
Bhatia punched the air in delight as her teammates gathered on the India dressing room balcony in the pavilion to applaud her achievement.
INDIA GREATS
Bhatia joined the likes of India men’s greats Vinoo Mankad, Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharrudin, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in scoring a test century at the London ground.
She was eventually out for 113 when caught at extra-cover trying to loft left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone over the top.
Bhatia was congratulated by several England fielders as she walked off while receiving a standing ovation from spectators in the stands.
Ecclestone, who in the course of this match has become England’s leading wicket-taker across all international formats, later bowled Sneh Rana to complete a five-wicket haul as she finished with 5-118 in 33.3 overs.
That made her the second woman to achieve the feat in a Lord’s test following Gaud’s miserly 5-37 in 17 overs during England’s first-innings 170.
Richa Ghosh, with a rapid unbeaten 50, added to the woes of an increasingly ragged England, who started this match just a few days after their T20 World Cup final defeat by Australia at Lord’s last Sunday.
Smriti Mandhana had been in superb touch on Saturday as she backed up her first-innings 83 with an unbeaten 69.
But Mandhana added just one run to her overnight score before she was caught low down the leg side by diving wicketkeeper Jones.
ENGLAND: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wkt), Mady Villiers, Sophie Ecclestone, Issy Wong, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell
INDIA: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemima Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wkt), Deepti Sharma, Sayali Satghare, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud