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Australia rebuild advantage after Tammy Beaumont drives England with mighty 208

Published

3 years ago

2023/06/25

Priyan

Tammy Beaumont exults after reaching her double century

Tammy Beaumont sat back in her crease, nonchalantly threaded the ball between gully and second slip and with that reached the highest Test score by an England Women’s player. It was her 26th boundary of a near-boundless innings and took down BettySnowball’s 88-year-old record of 189, scored against New Zealand at Christchurch in 1935. But Beaumont wasn’t done yet.

When she turned Annabel Sutherland to fine leg and took a single to become the first Englishwoman to score a Test double-century, Beaumont kept on going, skipping towards the dressing-room and thrusting her fist towards her team-mates with a roar. That made her the eighth woman in history to score Test double-hundred.

Even then, Beaumont didn’t stop, whipping Tahlia McGrath through backward point for four. It was to be her 27th and final boundary before she finally became the last batter out, having taken her side within 10 runs of Australia’s mammoth first-innings 473. When she was eventually dismissed trying to sweep Ashleigh Gardner only for the ball to hit the top of off stump, Beaumont stayed down on one knee and gave a shrug of the shoulders. She may have been disappointed, but her work here was done.

In the meantime, McGrath – the pick of Australia’s seamers with 3 for 24 from 12 overs – had dismissed Sophie Ecclestone lbw, bowled Kate Cross for a second-ball duck with a gem that nipped back and crashed into off stump and had Lauren Filer caught behind trying to slash at one that moved away sharply on her.

By stumps, Australia had forged ahead on a batting-friendly pitch, extending their lead to 92 with openers Phoebe Litchfield and Beth Mooney unbeaten on 41 and 33 respectively.

With England’s seam stocks already hit by an knee problem for Nat Sciver-Brunt, Kate Cross left the field to have a finger on her non-bowling hand taped after missing a difficult caught-and-bowled chance off Litchfield, on 10 at the time with Australia 31 not out. Cross returned to the field but didn’t bowl again as captain Heather Knight turned to spin, including her own, to close out the day.

Beaumont had displayed sublime footwork, strokeplay and concentration and faced 331 deliveries over more than eight hours for her 208, the fifth-highest score in women’s Tests. It was her second double-century in eight days, having retired on 201 during the three day warm-up against Australia A in Leicester. This one came almost two years ago to the day after Beaumont declared she had stopped believing in form. You wonder if she believes again now.

That was in response to scoring her fourth consecutive ODI half-century, against India in Bristol. But this knock was a turnaround on a more difficult stretch in Beaumont’s international career. She hasn’t played a T20I since the last Ashes series in Australia 18 months ago, after being dropped from the squad ahead of England’s home Commonwealth Games and the World Cup in February. She responded to news of her axing with a blistering one-day century against South Africa at Leicester last July, but failed to pass 33 in her six innings since, during India’s visit last summer and the winter tour of the Caribbean.

She resumed unbeaten on 100 on Saturday’s third morning at Trent Bridge, having sprinted for a second run to bring up her maiden Test hundred late the previous evening. England were still 255 runs in arrears but, after a watchful start, she and Sciver-Brunt set about eating into the deficit with a boundary-rich first session.

That was after Darcie Brown thought she had Sciver-Brunt out lbw for 41 with the first ball of the day before England successfully reviewed, replays showing the ball was missing leg stump.

Australia conceded just one run off the first three overs of the day but then Beaumont picked off three fours in one Brown over, beautifully timed past mid-off, eased through the slips cordon and then pulled through wide mid-on.

Sciver-Brunt raised her fifty by exquisitely timing a Brown delivery to the boundary through deep backward point and she helped herself to three in a row off Sutherland, either side of the pitch.

Surprisingly, given that Gardner and Alana King had caused England some difficulty late on the second evening after Australia’s seamers had struggled throughout Friday, stand-in captain Alyssa Healy left it until well into the second hour to re-introduce her slow bowlers. Off-spinner Gardner struck with her ninth ball of the morning, a faster, flatter delivery outside off stump which found Sciver-Brunt’s outside edge as she stepped back to cut, misjudging the length and feathering to Healy behind the stumps.

England were 288 for 3 but leg-spinner King was extracting some impressive turn as lunch neared. Sophia Dunkley took 18 balls to get off the mark and was not out on 7 as England went to the interval having added 90 runs for the loss of just one wicket. Australia delayed taking the second new ball and were rewarded when Gardner struck again, Dunkley playing across the line to a ball which clattered into off stump to be out for 9 off 51.

Beaumont had survived the previous evening when she struck a King delivery onto her boot and Litchfield wasn’t awarded the catch at short leg. Today, Beaumont was adjudged lbw on 152 when she was rapped on the pad attempting to sweep King, but she reviewed and was vindicated when replays showed the ball had pitched fractionally outside leg stump.

Danni Wyatt made her Test debut after 245 white-ball internationals and played a typically fast-paced innings. She scored her first runs steering the second ball she faced, from King, through deep cover to the fence and struck seven boundaries on her way to 44 at a strike rate of 89.79. But Brown took the second new ball after 99 overs and sent down a couple of eye-catching bouncers. She had Wyatt all at sea with a length ball angling in that the batter lost sight of and, next delivery, Wyatt sent a catch straight to Jess Jonassen at second slip.

The fifth ball of Brown’s over jumped off a length at Amy Jones, but Jones responded by dispatching the next delivery through deep midwicket with a perfectly timed pull. Jones managed two more boundaries before Ellyse Perry had her out to a leading edge, swallowed by Sutherland at mid-on but Beaumont just kept marching on.

Brief scores:

Australia 473 and 82 for 0 (Phoebe Litchfield 41*, Beth Mooney 33*) lead England 463 (Tammy Beaumont 208, Heather Knight 57, Nat Sciver-Brunt 78, Danni Wyatt 44; Ashleigh Gardner 4-99, Tahlia McGrath 3-24 ) by 92 runs

(Cricinfo)

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Rose Bowl expanded to include Australia vs New Zealand T20Is

Published

10 hours ago

2026/10/17

Priyan

Australia have held the Rose Bowl continuously since 2000 [Cricinfo]

The Rose Bowl, which has been awarded to the winner of ODI series between the women’s teams of Australia and New Zealand since 1985, has now been expanded to include T20Is as well.

New Zealand’s three match T20I tour of Australia, which begins on Sunday at the North Sydney Oval, will be the first T20I edition of the Rose Bowl. The teams will get to face off again for the trophy in March 2027 when they meet again for three ODIs, also in Australia.

For Rose Bowl series that include matches in both white-ball formats, the trophy will go to the team with the most wins overall. In case of a drawn series, the current holder will retain the trophy.

“The Rose Bowl is a prestigious trophy that holds a lot of meaning to current and past players, and it’s a series we’ve always taken a lot of pride in competing in,”Catherine Campbell, NZC’s chief cricket operations officer and a former New Zealand player, said. “With so much T20I cricket now being played, this is a brilliant opportunity to keep the Rose Bowl relevant and to build on the history between us and our Australian rivals.”

New Zealand captain Melie Kerr was excited by the broadening of opportunities to compete for the Rose Bowl.

“We’re all aware of what the Rose Bowl represents and the importance it holds in the White Ferns whakapapa [genealogy],” said Kerr. “Great players and teams have fought for it over the years and we’d love the opportunity to claim our own piece of that history.”

Australia have held the Rose Bowl continuously since wresting it back from New Zealand in 2000. Since that 3-0 win, Australia have won 18 times with one series – in 2008-09 – shared 2-2. Overall, Australia have won 26 of the 31 ODI series played for the Rose Bowl, with New Zealand winning three times and three series drawn.

North Sydney will host all three T20Is of the upcoming Rose Bowl series, on October 18, 20 and 22.

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Trump claims US Navy blockade stops Iranian ships in Hormuz

Published

10 hours ago

2026/10/17

Priyan

A handout image dated August 11, 2014, shows the container ship GFS Pride in Rozenburg, the Netherlands. The vessel sank in the Strait of Hormuz on October 14, 2026, according to maritime security sources [Aljazeera]

US President Donald Trump claims the US Navy’s “effective” blockade has stopped all Iranian ships from crossing the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy says a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil has struck a sea mine while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz through an “unauthorised” route.

The collision caused a huge explosion and a major fire on board the vessel, the IRGC said in a statement reported by semi-official Tasnim news agency.

It alleged that the tanker had turned off all tracking and radar systems, attempting to pass through the strait using deception and with US military support.

‘The Strait of Hormuz is closed’, the IRGC navy warned, adding that vessels violating Iranian regulations would face severe consequences for relying on US backing.

[Aljazeera]

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Iyer to lead in last two New Zealand ODIs, Kushagra earns maiden call-up

Published

20 hours ago

2026/10/16

Priyan

Gill & Iyer will share leadership duties across the five New Zealand ODIs [Cricbuzz]

Shreyas Iyer has returned as India’s ODI vice-captain for the upcoming five-match series against New Zealand, having missed the preceding ODI series against the West Indies due to India’s T20I commitments during the Asian Games.

Iyer will be the vice-captain for the first three ODIs before taking over the captaincy for the fourth and fifth matches, with Ishan Kishan appointed his deputy for the final two games. This allows Shubman Gill, the regular ODI skipper and Test captain, to focus on preparing for the two-match Test series, part of the World Test Championship cycle, which follows the ODIs.

Prasidh Krishna also returns to the ODI squad for the first three matches, but his availability is subject to fitness. He sustained a left hamstring injury during the second ODI against the West Indies and was replaced by Anshul Kamboj. Meanwhile, Kamboj has also been named in the squad for the first three New Zealand ODIs.

India have also made changes to their squad for the latter half of the series, with Tilak Varma and Kumar Kushagra coming into the 16-member squad for the fourth and fifth ODIs. Prasidh and Kamboj, who are also part of the Test team, are among those not included in the squad for the final two matches. Auqib Nabi, meanwhile, has been included in the squad for the fourth and fifth ODIs.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli feature in both squads, alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav. Incidentally, Reddy, Kuldeep and Siraj are also part of the Test squad but have been retained for the last two matches. KL Rahul has been named as the wicketkeeper for the first three matches, while Kishan will take over the role for the final two ODIs, with the former set to join the Test preparations.

The ODI series begins on November 4, following India’s five-match T20I series. The first ODI will be played in Auckland, while the second game will be held in Wellington on November 7. Hamilton will host the third match on November 10, while the last two ODIs will be played in Mount Maunganui on November 13 and 15. The Test series begins on November 19.

Squad for the first three ODIs: Shubman Gill [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer [VC], KL Rahul [WK], Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan [WK], Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna*, Kuldeep Yadav

Squad for fourth and fifth ODIs: Shreyas Iyer [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan [WK, VC], Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra [WK], Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav

[Cricbuzz]