Talking points: Gaud's brilliance, southpaws step out

Kranti Gaud dismantled England with a five-wicket haul to secure India a healthy lead of 115 in the one-off Test at Lord's, before the batters, led once again by Smriti Mandhana, extended that number to 269. With nine wickets in hand and two days to go, India boosted their chances of extending their spotless record in women's Tests on English soil.

Here are the key talking points from Day 2 of the Lord's Test:

The Kranti Gaud pivot that paid rich dividends

In a surprising move, Harmanpreet Kaur threw the ball to Shree Charani for the first over of the day. But the Indian captain swiftly pivoted to pace and turned to Kranti Gaud, who picked up from where she left off on Day 1. Gaud nailed her lengths, got the ball to seam into the right-handers, and used the wobble seam delivery masterfully. She cleaned up Alice Capsey with a pearler that hit the top of off as it left the batter.

This came shortly after she undid Maia Bouchier with extra bounce and Sayali Satghare trapped Heather Knight leg before. Gaud also nabbed Nat Sciver-Brunt plumb in front in the second session before putting her name on the Honours Board with a fifth wicket. The prompt switch was one of many proactive bowling changes from Harmanpreet throughout the day.

Jones continues the counterattack trend

A recurring theme is batters not taking a backward step. Amy Jones continued this trend. India's spinners erred too full, and Jones punished anything loose, middling most deliveries en route to a 59-ball half-century. Though she fell shortly after, her purposeful batting ensured India's spinners did not settle early. England scored at 4 per over in the morning session despite losing three wickets in the first half hour.

A tough initiation to whites for Shree Charani

Shree Charani had a disappointing outing in the first innings, sending down eight overs for 41 runs. The first ball of the day was a half-volley that Knight drilled to the boundary. Returning for a second spell, she caused little trouble despite getting the ball to turn. Harmanpreet switched her ends but to no avail. Once Sciver-Brunt slog-swept a six, Charani was removed from the attack and did not bowl in the second session. 25 of her 48 deliveries were pitched full and went for 29 runs, highlighting her struggles with length.

Southpaws step out to drive India into the ascendancy

India's openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana drove the visitors forward with an 88-run partnership that swelled the lead past 200. After Shafali fell to Sophie Ecclestone, Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia put on a masterclass in footwork to negate spin. The duo frequently used their feet to get to the pitch of the ball. While Mandhana was in cruise control, Bhatia's decisive footwork emerged as a big positive, stepping down the track for each of her four boundaries. Both left-handers combined for 35 runs at a strike-rate of 166.66 while advancing against spin, capping off a fine day for India.