![Sophie Ecclestone bad mouths Deepti Sharma in Lord's Test [Source: X]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1783920990730_EcclestoneonbadmouthingDeepti.jpg?type=hq)
Sophie Ecclestone bad mouths Deepti Sharma in Lord's Test [Source: X]
The India Women versus England Women Only Test at Lord's has been a massive edge-of-the-seat thriller, with the Women in Blue dominating the game in every aspect. Yet, a controversial incident involving Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone took place on Day 3 of the match, after which the English all-rounder opened up about bad-mouthing the Indian all-rounder.
For the unaware, Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone are teammates in the Women's Premier League for UP Warriorz. However, the heated atmosphere at Lord's did not spare the duo from having a tense exchange while England were chasing the mammoth target set by India.
What happened between Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone?
As Ecclestone was batting alongside Amy Jones on Day 3, Deepti attempted a Mankad on Ecclestone. After noticing that Ecclestone was stepping out of her crease during the run-up, Deepti deliberately paused her run-up on the last ball of the 40th over, with Jones on strike, and turned back to warn Ecclestone.
Ecclestone had already taken a few steps out of her crease, and upon seeing Deepti turn back, she quickly returned to safety. However, after the incident, a muted conversation took place between the two, with Ecclestone seemingly infuriated while Deepti wore a wry smile on her face.
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Sophie Ecclestone reveals the chat with Deepti after the Mankad attempt
Opening up about that conversation, Ecclestone later admitted to the media, subtly, that she had bad-mouthed Deepti Sharma after the incident.
When media personnel asked Ecclestone what exactly had been said between the two following the Mankad attempt, she refused to reveal the exact words, hinting that there had been some bad-mouthing during the exchange.
“I mean, to the media, No. But there were a few words, yeah. So, I mean it happens all the time, and she does it all the time so I have got no comment on it. But I feel its very wary that I have no feelings on that,” Ecclestone shared.
Deepti under the shadow, but India dominates
While the incident underlined the heated atmosphere at Lord's, India Women are currently cruising towards victory in the one-off Test, needing only four more wickets to win, while England require a massive 327 runs to salvage the match.
England will resume Day 4 on 130/6 after 40 overs. So far, Deepti Sharma has not been able to produce the magic with the ball. In England Women's first innings, Sharma managed to take only one wicket.
In India's first innings, though, Deepti scored a valuable 57 off 87 balls to help India secure a 285-run lead. In India's second innings, Yastika Bhatia struck a superb 113 to further punish the England bowlers.
Did India Women cricketers earlier attempt Mankads?
Notably, Deepti Sharma's Mankad attempt on Sophie Ecclestone was not the first such instance. As Ecclestone herself pointed out, Deepti had done it before during the third ODI between India and England on September 24, 2022, when she ran out England's Charlie Dean at the non-striker's end to help India seal a memorable 16-run victory.
In January 2023, during the ICC Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup, Indian bowler Mannat Kashyap ran out South African batter Jenna Evans at the non-striker's end. However, on that occasion, the then India captain Shafali Verma withdrew the appeal, and the dismissal was reversed.
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