It was a day out for the wicketkeepers as Yastika Bhatia got her name onto the Honours Board before Richa Ghosh and Amy Jones stroked their way to brisk half-centuries. But it was yet another memorable day at Lord's for India, who made early inroads after setting England a daunting target of 457, just four wickets away from a third Test win on English shores.

Here are the major talking points from Day 3 of the Test:

Yastika Bhatia completes redemption arc

She had seen it all on this tour of the UK. A return from injury, retired out in a T20I against England, a tough World Cup campaign and a peach that bowled her in the first innings here at Lord's.

Yastika Bhatia should've been bowled by another Lauren Bell ripper on the first ball of Day 3, but for the stubbornness of the off stump and the bails. It was perhaps the fitting reversal of fortune that she deserved, as she immediately drove the next ball down the ground. She stood outside her crease to negate the swing of Bell, while remaining at ease against the spin of Sophie Ecclestone. She pulled Lauren Filer at will to negate the short ball ploy while Mady Villiers was treated to more of Bhatia's step-out hits, as was the case on Day 2.

She wasted no time in bringing up her hundred after Lunch and bowed beside the pitch in celebration of the landmark. Ironically, she perished to her most effective shot, miscuing an Ecclestone delivery as she stepped down the track. But not before she capped off a difficult tour with a significant milestone.

England try different things early to little avail

There was a significant difference in Lauren Bell's returns from the first and second innings, as she hit the good and hard lengths far more frequently this time around. She extracted swing but also subtly varied her seam position, using the wobble ball and the scrambled-seam effectively. Nat Sciver-Brunt deployed a short mid-on for Jemimah Rodrigues as the 'keeper stood up to the stumps, before Rodrigues fell to the carrot dangler outside the off stump and was bowled on the drive.

Bell had to go off the field with abdominal muscle soreness, leaving England a bowler short. Filer tried bouncing India out, with 19 of her 30 deliveries in the first session either bouncer length or hard length but she was unable to rush the batters. While there were different plans for the pacers, Sophie Ecclestone bowled 12 overs unchanged throughout the morning session, slowing her speeds down and extracting more turn than she did on Day 2 with Sciver-Brunt setting a 6-3 off-side field at one point. Ecclestone nabbed Harmanpreet Kaur before picking up three more wickets post Lunch from the opposite end, finishing with a five-wicket haul. But the sheer might of their lead meant that India were never fazed or threatened throughout.

Ghosh lays into tired English attack

India's mandate post Lunch was clear: swell the lead past 450 and set up a declaration. They had the perfect batter in charge in the form of Richa Ghosh and India creamed 33 runs off the first four overs of the session with Ghosh racing off the traps. A tiring Ecclestone overpitched the ball far more than she did in the opening session and Ghosh drilled them at will, meting out similar treatment to the pace of Issy Wong. After Sneh Rana's dismissal, she was happy to bide her time and wait for the loose ball, with Sayali Satghare giving her company even as the scoring rate dropped off briefly. The relaxed faces in the Indian camp watching from the Lord's balcony told a story though. Harmanpreet soon changed to her whites, signaling an impending declaration which eventually came after Ghosh got to a 52-ball half-century.

Gaud, Satghare and a metronomic masterclass

The seam movement that Kranti Gaud and Sayali Satghare extracted in the first ten overs of the fourth innings (over 1 degree) was more than what it was in the same phase across the first three innings. But what was more impressive was the relentless execution of their length, rarely overpitching to allow the batters to break free. Gaud denied Tammy Beaumont a fairytale end to her international career, castling her with a ripping in-ducker for a golden duck. Satghare then trapped Maia Bouchier LBW with an nip-backer of her own, with the good length coming to the aid of the seamers on both instances.

Nearly 89 per cent of their deliveries through that first spell landed in the good and hard length zones as they allowed England little breathing space. Gaud's second spell was a brief yet significant one, hitting that 5-7m good length mark again to ruin Heather Knight's swansong this time, having the former captain caught at short leg. Satghare did go full to Alice Capsey, but just full enough as another one jagged back in to flummox the latter.

Offspinner Rana duly did her bit to keep things tight and back up the efforts of the seamers, who were given a breather later in the day. But the stark difference in effectiveness between the two pace attacks spilled over into the fourth innings, aptly reflecting in the state of the contest.