Sophie Ecclestone: Scaling new heights and starring against India
BY THE NUMBERSOne Test
8 wickets at 25.75
Two ODIs
6 wickets at 12.16 with an economy rate of 3.65
STARRING IN HISTORIC TEST
Ecclestone enjoyed her best Test to date this June, taking eight wickets in a rollercoaster encounter against India.
The left-arm finger-spinner claimed career-best figures of 4/88 in India’s first innings and followed it up with 4/118 in the second.
The Indians were on course for a huge first-innings total after a 167-run opening stand, and while Ecclestone did not strike the first blow she was the main reason the tourists only managed 231 in the end. She cut a swathe through India’s middle-order, knocking over Mithali Raj (2), Harmanpreet Kaur (4), Taniya Bhatia (0) and Sneh Rana (2) as the tourists slumped from 179/3 to 197/8.
She looked set to bowl England to victory as she collected another four wickets in India’s second innings, removing half-century makers Shafali Verma (63) and Deepti Sharma (54) before quickly accounting for Raj (4) and Kaur (8) only to be denied by an unbeaten 80 from Rana.
SHINING IN THE ODIs
Having shone in the one-off Test against India, Ecclestone took that form into the ODIs where she snared six wickets across the two matches played in June.
The spinner was once again a menace to the Indian middle-order in the series opener, accounting for both Raj (72) and Kaur (1) again as well as Pooja Vastrakar (15). Her spell of 3/40 proved crucial to restricting India to a total of 201/8, which England chased with ease.
She backed that performance with another impressive showing in the second ODI, taking 3/33 to help England win the match and seal the series. Ecclestone opened her account with the dismissal of the dangerous Verma, having her stumped cleverly with a slower variation. She followed that up with the dismissals of Bhatia (2) and Poonam Yadav (10) to bring an end to the Indian innings.
SURGING UP THE RANKINGS
Ecclestone’s reward for her hot start to the ODI series was a then career-best ranking of 10th on the ICC bowling rankings – she has since climbed to sixth.
The England star finished the month of June with a career-best 651 rating points and she has only further improved that number since.