Australia openers unbeaten at close after England struggle for penetration in second innings
Valkerie Baynes24-Jun-2023Tammy 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 Betty Snowball’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.Related
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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.Ellyse Perry celebrates dismissing Amy Jones•ECB/Getty Images
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.