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It’s been an up and down few months for Pakistan in T20 cricket. The ups: clean-sweeping South Africa 3-0 at home; and beating New Zealand 2-1 away. The downs: a 2-1 away defeat to Bangladesh; and most recently a 4-1 loss to West Indies at home – the latter essentially a 4-1 defeat to Hayley Matthews, who won 3 Player of the Match awards in the 5-game series.
Their failure to take anything much from a one-woman Windies team at home didn’t bode well for their chances against England, who for all their flaws remain indisputably one of the top 3 sides in the world, albeit that their 2nd-placed ICC ranking (ahead of India in 3rd) probably flatters them a little.
The one advantage the Pakistanis did have over some of the England XI coming into this game, was that they had played some recent cricket, with the West Indies series having wrapped up less than a fortnight ago. Contrastingly, two of England’s brightest young stars – Alice Capsey and Lauren Bell – have played a combined total of zero games between them since England returned from New Zealand over a month ago. There was rust on both of them, and it showed.
Capsey got off the mark with an edge off the back of her bat, which somehow missed the stumps and went past the befuddled keeper for 4, and… it didn’t get any better from there. With England having lost a 2nd wicket in the meantime, Capsey needed to knuckle down; instead, she played the kind of shot that looked like she’d just closed her eyes and swung, with all-too-predictable consequences.
Bell also started poorly, her first over going for 12 as Gull Feroza went on the attack up-top for Pakistan. Bowlers do of course get second chances that batters don’t, and Bell got her revenge on Feroza with a decent ball in her second over, with the help of a brilliant catch from Amy Jones. Bell also added another couple of wickets as Pakistan collapsed, giving her final figures of 3-22, which don’t read too badly; but she definitely didn’t have the control today that she showed on the New Zealand tour, and which England will need from her if they are going to challenge for the T20 World Cup.
Ultimately, none of it mattered in terms of the outcome of this match. England had enough depth and experience to recover from 11-4 to post 163. Amy Jones and Heather Knight were dealt a difficult hand with the situation they found themselves in, but they played their cards with all the nous of a pair who have over 450 caps between them.
In this, they were ably assisted by some terrible fielding from Pakistan – Nida Dar just couldn’t get her placements right – everything England hit seemed to find a gap, and when it didn’t, it found a misfield.
Having dug in in the early-middle phase, England were then able to accelerate and maintain a pace of 10+ over for the remainder of the match. Knight and Jones’ stand meant that Dani Gibson could come in and add a very useful 41 not out at the death, to take the game out of Pakistan’s reach. (It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that Gibson is one of the ones who has been playing regional cricket, batting herself back into form with a half-century for Storm at Bristol last week.)
Pakistan made a decent start to their chase, and by the half-way mark were on-track to win the match, according to our new toy – a win-predictor called “Win-her”, which is based exclusively on data taken from women’s cricket.
Of course, Win-her turned out to be very-much not correct in terms of the outcome of this game, but that doesn’t mean it is “wrong”. What it is saying is that a team that has made a decent dent in the chase and only lost 3 wickets at the 10-over mark in the chase, will mostly go on to win the match.
And Pakistan should have! But where England used the late-middle phase to explode, Pakistan imploded, losing 5 wickets for 10 runs and handing the game to England, leaving 12,000 fans to go home happy on the opening day of England’s international summer.
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Ella “Mac” McCaughan has been a constant fixture for Southern Vipers in the short history of the RHF Trophy; and she has been a consistent but not spectacular performer through the past four seasons, averaging 23 across 36 games for the team she made her 50-over debut for as a 17-year-old, back in 2020.
The one caveat about her career so far was that she had never made a really BIG score in senior cricket before today, and… if we’re being brutally honest… she still hasn’t; but her 83 off 97 balls, opening the batting for the Vipers against a perennially strong Diamonds side, was the difference between the two teams on a day that ended in a rain-adjusted win for the Vipers at the newly-renamed “Utilita Bowl” in Southampton.
Lizzie Scott was the victim of an early assault by McCaughan, who struck five 4s off Scott’s first two overs. On an outfield which was lightning-fast, despite overnight rain, Vipers hit 49 off the first 6 overs of the powerplay, with McCaughan 31 off 24 balls, eclipsing Maia Bouchier at the other end, who had made a mere 14 off 12 at that stage.
Runs were a little harder to come by after that, with the two balls in use at either end not quite pinging off the bat the way they had when they were new. Nonetheless, Vipers reached 72 before Bouchier was dismissed – caught by Lauren Winfield-Hill having skied an attempted pull.
A second big partnership, this one for 93, ensued between McCaughan and Aussie import Charli Knott, who has made herself very-much at home in English domestic cricket. Today’s 40 off 40 balls was actually her lowest score of the season so far, and thanks to a not-out against Sparks in the week, she currently averages 69. Given that Knott is (realistically) nowhere near the Australian national side, that might be indicative of a continuing gap in standards between English and Australian domestic cricket; or it might be a sign of greater things to come. Time will tell, but it is worth noting in passing that one of the day’s other better performances was another Australian who has never added to the handful of caps she won in 2019 – Erin Burns.
McCaughan and Knott were ultimately dismissed in successive overs by Turners – not balls that span, but deliveries from medium-pacers (and not sisters, despite both ending up playing cricket for the same team) Sophia and Phoebe Turner. But by that time Vipers had a platform of 168 with 7 wickets in hand to push on towards something really big. They didn’t quite achieve that, finishing on 287 after losing wickets towards the end; but it was still a big total, well in excess of the 250 which is an average 1st innings score in the RHF.
With spots of rain already in the air, and a deluge forecast from about 4pm, Diamonds walked out to bat facing not only the Vipers’ bowling lineup, but also Professors Duckworth, Lewis and Stern, with “stern” being the operative word for the test they were about to undergo. As Winston Churchill might have said of DLS, it remains the worst form of deciding a rain-affected cricket match, apart from all the other ways which have from time to time been tried. My view is that it is fair, but it certainly feels harsh when you see the par score go from 19 to 40 in one ball due to the loss of an early wicket.
Having lost 3 wickets early, and with the weather palpably closing-in, Diamonds found themselves frantically chasing DLS for the rest of their innings. They did actually get the gap down to single-figures at one point, as Winfield-Hill and Burns put on 82 for the 4th wicket, but their dismissals suddenly added another 40-odd runs to the target, and there was clearly going to be no way back for the Diamonds, with the umpires calling time after 30 overs as the rain took hold.
The result was a big one for Vipers, against the only other side to have won the RHF Trophy. It lifts them to second in the table, just ahead of Sunrisers on Net Run Rate, but still behind Stars, who continued their unbeaten start to the season with a DLS win of their own versus Sparks. With two semi-finals, rather than a single “eliminator” this season, there’s a bit more to play for than there has been mid-table than in previous years, and the Diamonds I saw today should certainly make that top four, but Vipers have shown once again why they remain the team to beat.
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An 8th ODI hundred for Sophie Devine, brought up with a 6 off the final ball of the game, gave New Zealand victory in the final T20 at Hamilton.
Although New Zealand had already lost the series 2-1, they will take consolation from two crucial ICC Championship points, which could well be the difference between direct entry to the World Cup in India and having to schlep off to a qualifying tournament. Having drawn the short-straw of missing out on playing thus-far-winless Ireland (every team “skips” one of the 9 possible opponents) New Zealand are currently evens, having won 8 games and lost 8, with 2 no-results. However, their last two series are against Australia and India, so there is a good chance that they will finish on 18. I’ve not run the Alligator analysis software on the Championship table – with so many games remaining, it would take several days to run – but my guess is that 18 points will… just… be enough.
New Zealand’s win was assisted by a vintage England collapse, after England had chosen to bat first, presumably with the intention of proving something. And to be fair, they did prove something – just not the thing that Heather Knight would have had in mind when she won the toss.
England didn’t get the ideal start, but these things happen, and Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt had rebuilt to 82-2 by the end of the 17th over. Just 6 overs later, they were 95-6, having lost 4 wickets for 13 runs. Sciver-Brunt was first to go, holing out trying to accelerate her strike rate; but, again, these things happen – you will lose wickets, but the key is to not let 1 turn into 2 turn into 4. And that is exactly what England did.
Dunkley failed to move her feet and ended up playing the ball she hoped she was going to get, not the one she actually got, which was a pretty regulation delivery on off stump; Wyatt tried to sweep a full toss without accounting for the fact that Amelia Kerr might not get much turn if she doesn’t pitch it, but she will still get plenty of dip; and finally Knight was run out by a couple of inches after momentarily ruminating on a quick single.
Knight wasn’t happy with Amy Jones, but England have drilled themselves to grab these sharp singles, to the point where it is an instinct thing, and the run was there if Knight hadn’t taken that fraction of a second to procrastinate.
It was left to Jones and Charlie Dean once again to salvage something from the sinking ship, and for the second time in the series they did that; although it came to a somewhat disappointing end when Jones was guided straight into a trap, with a big neon sign above it saying “Trap”, by Suzie Bates and Eden Carson both wearing t-shirts with “Welcome To Our Trap!” written on them.
Dean did sterling work once again at No. 8, holding up her end while Amy Jones went at a run-a-ball at the other, to take England to within walking distance of respectability. It is taking nothing away from Dean in this series however, to point out that anyone suggesting that England should push her further up the order after this, needs to put their glasses on and read the scorecard. Scores of 38 off 64 balls (today) and 42 off 70 (in the first ODI) are what England needed from her in that role, but they aren’t strike rates that are going to cut it at the top levels of international cricket these days, and as soon as Dean tried to accelerate today she signed her own death warrant. Dean might yet become a top 6 ODI batter – at the same age (23) Tammy Beaumont was averaging 18, with a highest score of 44, and still 3 years away from her breakthrough summer of 2016 – so Dean has time… but she is not there yet.
Thanks to Jones and Dean, England got close to the 200 that might have been enough had Sophie Devine not put on the Ritz with a perfectly timed century. Devine is closing in on 35 years young, but still averaging 55 in ODIs in the past 12 months; and while she’s smashing 6s on decent boundaries like she did today, who knows how long she can go on?
Devine was one of the very first “professionals” – prior to the first KSL in 2016, at a glamorous (really!) launch party in Manchester (really-really!), Raf and I went around all the players in the room asking them what their favorite Nandos was. (It was for a piece… we aren’t that socially awkward… well… Raf isn’t, anyway!) Most said chicken, a couple said salad. Sophie Devine said: “I’m a professional athlete – I don’t eat that s***!” And yet in a strange sort of a way, Devine has also ended up becoming one of the very last “amateurs” – those who keep playing above-all because it’s fun. And for that, you can’t not love her. Even if you’re England today.
England got out of jail free, passed ‘Go’, and collected 2 ICC Championship points, in the 1st ODI against New Zealand in Wellington.
The win leapfrogs England over New Zealand and Pakistan, from 5th place into 3rd in the ICC Championship, though the table does have to be read with some caution right now, with New Zealand having played 3 more games than England, and Pakistan 6 more.
Chasing a sub-par 207, England had collapsed to 79-6 at the end of the 17th over when Wyatt, who had already hinted that she couldn’t pick Amelia Kerr’s wrong’un, confirmed the fact as Kerr ghosted one through her defences. To be fair to Wyatt, she’s not the first and she won’t be the last. In fact, I remember one Amy Jones once admitting in a press huddle after a game that she couldn’t pick Kerr, before rather sheepishly adding “Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that?”
And who was at the other end from Wyatt today? The last recognised “proper” batter in England’s lineup? Ah… hello Ms Jones – fancy seeing you here!
England had carded Sophie Ecclestone to come in next, but they tweaked the batting order slightly and Charlie Dean walked out to the middle. With 129 runs still required, it felt like an impossible ask, but 25 overs later Dean hit the winning runs, with Jones 92* at the other end, and England celebrated the unlikeliest of victories.
Sending in Dean was a masterstroke, because she is so unflappable – a trait she has inherited from her father, who had a long minor-counties batting career and someone once described to me as “The best batter never to have played professional cricket”. The great Australian bowler Merv Hughes allegedly once summed-up Dean Sr. even more succinctly, after a tour match against a minor counties XI, exclaiming simply: “Who is this c***?” And whilst I’m sure that kind of language would never pass the lips of any of today’s White Ferns, they could be forgiven similar sentiments after Dean finished 42* off 70 balls.
Dean really was the key, despite scoring half the runs Jones did, because her indefatigability seemed to rub off on Jones, who is prone to the odd rush of blood to the head, especially in high-pressure situations, of which today was among the highest. Between the two of them, they suddenly made batting look easy, and towards the end it felt like they could have chased at least another 30 with ease, as they passed the winning post with a country mile to spare.
New Zealand’s bowlers will probably be held culpable for letting the win slip through their hands, but the truth for me is more that the White Ferns’ bowlers almost pulled off a heist after the batting department had really let them down.
The Milwaukee tells the story – New Zealand hit just 30 runs in the powerplay, putting them behind the game from the off. And it could have been even worse – the Kiwis were extraordinarily lucky not to lose any wickets early on, as Kate Cross made Bernadine Bezuidenhout in particular look totally clueless. Alex Hartley kept mentioning on comms that Cross hadn’t played any white-ball cricket for six months, having sat on the bench at WPL – almost like Hartley was getting the excuses in early for her old mate; but she didn’t need to: Cross delivered the full pizza, conceding just 10 runs from 5 overs in the powerplay, with 24 dots from 30 balls in that phase.
Bezuidenhout and Suzie Bates were able to up the run rate a bit during the 10 overs that followed the powerplay, and having (somehow!) kept wickets in hand, more by luck than anything else, New Zealand were in a position to start throwing the bat a little bit in the second half of their innings. Unfortunately for them however, they decided to throw the bat a little too much and wickets tumbled, leaving them all out for 207.
A typical score in women’s ODIs between the championship sides since the start of 2021 is 247, so this felt somewhat light.
It was a good day for England’s bowlers no doubt, but the TV commentators, distracted by Cross’s early numbers (which were remarkable) did make a tad too much of The Dot Thing. England’s bowling dot percentage in this game was 58%. Their overall percentage in ODIs since the start of 2021? 58%!
England’s reply got off to the worst possible start as Tammy Beaumont was bowled off an accidental full toss from Jess Kerr. It was a legal delivery as the laws stand, there’s no doubt about that, but it does feel like maybe it shouldn’t be – at least, not a delivery you can get out from. Maybe it should be a dead ball under those circumstances, though I admit I haven’t really thought that one through. (Feel free to have your say below, if you have an opinion – I’d be interested to hear your views.)
Heather Knight never really got the motor started, but Maia Bouchier was going along nicely and Nat Sciver-Brunt had just hit consecutive 4s off Jess Kerr, to take England to 54-2 at the end of the 11th over, when it started to go south for England. With the T20 side having procured a titanic collapse in the 3rd T20, their ODI sisters gave it the full “Hold My Beer” losing 4-25. Defeat looked certain; but we’ve seen miracles at Easter before – there was a famous one about 2,000 years ago – and we can now add another to that list.
CRICKETher 