Bristol: Debutants Sneh Rana and Taniya Bhatia shared an unbeaten 108-run stand for the ninth wicket to secure a memorable draw for India in the one-off women's Test against England here on Saturday.
If Deepti Sharma produced a dogged resistance with a 168-ball 54 in the top-order, Rana top-scored with an unbeaten 80 off 154 balls and frustrated the England bowlers with two crucial partnerships down the order with Shikha Pandey and Bhatia (44 not out off 88) respectively.
The 27-year-old, who had taken four wickets in the first innings with her off spin, had made a national comeback with this game.
Forced to follow on after being dismissed for 231 in their first innings, India resumed the final day at 83 for one but lost talented Shafali Verma (63) early.
Sharma then joined hands with Punam Raut (39) and added 72 runs to take India to 171 for three at lunch.
But the visitors lost four quick wickets for 28 runs to stare down the barrel at one stage before Rana and Pandey batted for almost 17 overs to stem the rot as India took tea at 243 for 8 with 40 overs still remaining in the match.