Former England batter Mark Butcher slams hosts as India close in on historic Lord’s win

Former England international Mark Butcher has heavily criticized England's bowling performance at Lord's, stating that India have completely outclassed the hosts by executing basic line and length disciplines five times better throughout the historic Test match

London: Former England batter Mark Butcher has lauded India’s absolute dominance in the ongoing one-off Test match at Lord’s, adding that the visitors had completely out-bowled England by executing the basics of the game much better.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India now need to pick just four wickets on the final day of the first-ever women’s Test at Lord’s to complete a famous victory and Butcher did not mince words about the gulf in performance between the two bowling units.

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“India have been dominant, pretty much from the off. I think the dye was cast from the first session of the Test when England won the toss and bowled first. There was a bit of assistance for the seamers on that day and fluffed their lines – they couldn’t hold to a line and length and India got off to an absolute flier.

“India’s 280 in the first innings has proven to be a lot of runs when the pitch was probably at its spiciest. From that moment onwards, England haven’t been allowed back in the game. Let’s face it, they have been out-bowled five to one in terms of line and length and India have done the basics better, that’s it,” said Butcher to broadcasters ahead of day four’s play.

Chasing a monumental, world-record target of 457 runs, England collapsed to a precarious 130/6 on day three. Given that the highest successful fourth-innings chase in women’s Test history stands at a mere 198, an English victory was always highly improbable.

However, the home side would have hoped to put up a more resilient fight against a disciplined Indian bowling attack. With England still requiring a distant 327 runs for victory, the final day’s play has been reduced to a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ for India to seal the match in their favour.

The only silver lining for England’s batting line-up has been wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones, who fought valiantly to remain unbeaten on 52. While Amy will be aiming to convert her half-century into three figures on the final day, a potential milestone for her will offer little solace to England after enduring a chastening few days of Test match cricket.