Game 2 comes up on Friday at 1:15pm Australian Eastern time. Game 3 is Sunday at 10am. Not sure if they’re using fresh pitches or the same track at Mackay for those games, that aspect could be interesting.
Then the day-night Test match starts from September 30 for four days, play at 4pm each day.
See you there.
Well, that was dominant. Australia’s young bowlers did the job early, Darcie Brown picking up 4 for 33 from her nine overs, then Hannah Darlington got 2 for 29 from eight. More to the point was how Darlington squeezed the scoring. So did everyone, really, except Ellyse Perry who bowled 10 wides today. The upshot was that they didn’t bowl India out, but still restricted them to 225 for 8, with 45 of those runs coming in a late dash between Richa Ghosh and Goswami.
Sophie Molineux 2 for 39 from nine. Georgia Wareham bowled her full 10 overs for 36 runs. Ash Gardner’s four overs cost 12.
Then the run chase became a run stroll. The opening stand was 126. Alyssa Healy made 77 at a run a ball, and gave away a chance at a hundred looking for two sixes in a row. Then Lanning came out and stroked her first 30 so quickly that there was no chance to think of India applying pressure. Haynes went on to 93, Lanning to 52, and the captain’s career average in run chases is now 67.51.
Australia get win #25 in their streak, and looked several classes above India today.
41st over: Australia 227-1 (Haynes 93, Lanning 53) Goswami bowls a low full toss and Lanning places the drive wide of mid-off. That’s half century number 16 in her ODI career, this one from 67 balls.
So there will be no century for Haynes. But if I’m strict, she didn’t really deserve one. Hasn’t done enough in the last hour, in terms of attack or nailing her shots, and it would have felt a bit cheap had Lanning nursed her to the milestone.
Haynes does hit the winning runs though. A higher full toss, clubbed over midwicket and it will hit the gap.
40th over: Australia 218-1 (Haynes 89, Lanning 48) Loses the strike first ball. Rana is bowling off-spin over the wicket to the lefty, bowls outside her leg stump, it’s a gift for Haynes to sweep, but she only nicks it or gloves it, into the helmet of the wicketkeeper. It bounces away for a single. Lanning sweeps the next ball for four. So she’s got a fifty in her sights. Then gives Haynes the strike back, but Haynes has been choked up entirely here. Two dot balls, can’t beat the field, then she paddle-sweeps but that gets her two runs and costs her the strike.
Australia need eight to win.
39th over: Australia 210-1 (Haynes 86, Lanning 43) Goswami to bowl. Haynes defends the first on off stump. Looks to guide the next ball fine but misses. Defends length on the stumps again. Ring field, four in the off side. Misses a bouncer! Goswami with a good one, right up at helmet height. Haynes drives to mid-off, dot ball. What doing, Rachael! Get a single at least and pinch the strike. And she does! Dinks to midwicket. Pantomimes at wanting the second run, before Lanning throws up the stop sign.
38th over: Australia 209-1 (Haynes 85, Lanning 43) So it’s 20 to win and Haynes needs 18 for a ton. Is maybe thinking about it as she tries to take Rana downtown, but mistimes the shot again and it plugs short of long off, for one run. Lanning gives her the bowling back, and similarly Haynes looks to hit hard but only skids it down the ground for another single. Lanning tries a big cut shot for four to end the over, but it’s saved at cover. So she’s not going to coax Haynes to the score, that much seems evident.
17 to win. Haynes will have strike.
37th over: Australia 205-1 (Haynes 83, Lanning 41) Goswami’s eighth over, and only two runs from this one. Maybe the batters want to see her off as well?
36th over: Australia 203-1 (Haynes 82, Lanning 40) The end of Poonam Yadav for the day, dinking three singles as the Australians see her off. She’s taken the one wicket to fall but conceded 58 runs in doing so. That’s a win for the home team.
35th over: Australia 200-1 (Haynes 80, Lanning 39) There’s a better lofted shot from Haynes. Down the track and drives Rana over cover for four. Lifts a couple of runs down the ground, sweeps one to keep strike.
34th over: Australia 192-1 (Haynes 73, Lanning 38) Poonam Yadav will bowl her last couple of overs, roll the dice. The Aussie go-slow continues. They’ve gone from that patch of 32 runs from three overs to a patch of 21 from seven.
34 to win.
33rd over: Australia 189-1 (Haynes 72, Lanning 36) Goes the sweep shot, does Lanning, off a top edge to deep midwicket and just dropping short of the sweeper running around squarer. Then it’s the turn of Haynes, who charges and lofts, cloughs it over mid on, and it lands between long on running up and midwicket running back. No luck for Sneh Rana.
Ooh. Almost this song.
32nd over: Australia 186-1 (Haynes 71, Lanning 34) Haynes takes a single first ball, so it’s Lanning again. Who has just faced 12 balls in a row for one run, and now gets strike back. Dot ball to cover, thinks about running but goes back. Goswami the bowler. Lanning drives straight at mid off but runs with the stroke, picking that Mithali was the fielder and wasn’t likely to rifle in a left-handed direct hit across her body at the non-striker’s end. Haynes gives the strike back immediately. Maybe Lanning is having flashbacks to Goswami rocking her off stump back in the 2017 World Cup semifinal. Another block, then keeps the strike with a drive to deep cover.
31st over: Australia 182-1 (Haynes 69, Lanning 32) The waiting game continues. It’s not that Lanning isn’t playing shots against Rana: she pings four deliveries straight to the off-side field. But doesn’t beat it, and it’s a scoreless over.
30th over: Australia 182-1 (Haynes 69, Lanning 32) Goswami continues, but Lanning is happy to see her off, just a single from the last ball. Putting on the brakes might have made a difference earlier, but now it’s just a pause on the inevitable.
I have not verified this whatsoever, but SCANDAL AT THE CRICKET thanks to Wojami in my emails.
“Hey Geoff, I was just watching Alyssa Healy bring up her half century - that was a 6 not a 4. It definitely just cleared the rope, I zoomed in on it. She got ripped off a maximum!”
29th over: Australia 181-1 (Haynes 69, Lanning 31) You barely notice that Meg Lanning is out there, but she’s already racked up 30 after more than a run a ball, and she’s on the brink of a fifty partnership. Haynes raises it by driving Sneh Rana over cover for two, advancing, then goes back to turn a ball off her stumps for one. Gets the strike back, then pinches a single that becomes two after a direct hit on the stumps ricochets away.
Drinks. Australia need 45 to win. Haynes needs 31 for a ton, but I suspect Lanning is gobbling up runs too fast for that to happen, unless Haynes hits the hammer.
28th over: Australia 175-1 (Haynes 64, Lanning 30) You have to wonder about Mithali Raj’s tendency to let games drift. Jhulan Goswami has bowled four overs conceding 17 runs at the beginning of the innings. India’s strike bowler, leading all-time wicket-taker, the most experienced. She hasn’t returned with the ball until now, when the match is lost. Lanning and Haynes happily keep her out during this over, knocking around four runs.
27th over: Australia 171-1 (Haynes 63, Lanning 27) India just want to pack up and head to the hotel for the day, I reckon. Poonam Yadav twice bowls way down leg, this time to the right-handed Lanning, who plays two identical sweep shots for two identical boundaries. 32 runs from the last three overs.
26th over: Australia 160-1 (Haynes 63, Lanning 16) They’ve kept mid on up for Haynes, trying to tempt her to go over the top. She doesn’t: instead when she charges she whacks it along the ground, inside that mid off position for four. Then cuts another boundary, backward point this time as Deepti Sharma drops short. There’s the 2000-run mark for Haynes in ODIs.
25th over: Australia 149-1 (Haynes 53, Lanning 15) Good bouncer from Meghna! Really digs it in to Haynes, gets good elevation up towards the helmet and Haynes flinches as she pulls. Totally uncontrolled, top edge, it just happens to fall safely behind square. But she gets of strike, and Lanning gets a full wide ball that she creams away with a square drive for four. Then waits back for another short ball and smacks away the pull shot for another. It doesn’t get up quite as high as the previous short ball, but still pretty good. It’s just that Lanning is ready for it.
24th over: Australia 139-1 (Haynes 52, Lanning 6) Poor ball from Poonam, looped but outside the left-hander’s leg stump, and simple for Haynes to sweep fine for four. There’s her milestone.
23rd over: Australia 132-1 (Haynes 46, Lanning 5) Meghna Singh returns, beats Lanning with away swing, then takes the edge wide of the keeper for four. Genuine nick, but on the bounce behind the stumps. The only score from the over aside from a wide.
22nd over: Australia 127-1 (Haynes 46, Lanning 1) Meg Lanning next to the crease, the best player ever in this women’s format with her 14 one-day tons. She’s playing her 200th match for Australia today across the three forms. Only four Tests in there but she’ll add two more this summer.
Past the 2000 mark with a six! Healy charges down to Poonam, reaches the pitch and hits it dead straight down the ground and over the rope. But she goes to the well once too often from the next ball. Doesn’t reach the pitch the second time around, Poonam’s flight beats her, meaning she hits it flatter than intended, and then a bit of turn makes the shot skew wider than it would have. Caught at mid off. She’s made her shirt number, and all but won this match for Australia. Vastrakar at least gets to contribute with a catch.
21st over: Australia 120-0 (Haynes 46, Healy 71) Wide to Healy, who reaches to Rana and drives her square for two. Then cuts hard for a single. She’s three runs away from her 2000th in ODI cricket. Haynes is 17 away from the same mark. Healy sweeps another single.
20th over: Australia 114-0 (Haynes 44, Healy 67) Another skip down from Healy to Poonam, and is lucky to get something on that ball as it almost dips under the bat. Drives a single. Haynes goes with a reverse, but Poonam’s pace is so slow that she has to wait for it and play a reverse shovel more than a sweep, to the gap at short third for two runs. Then another brace pulled to fine leg. Haynes stepping up her rate while Healy battles a bit.
19th over: Australia 107-0 (Haynes 38, Healy 66) Rana bowling. Healy is tiring a little in the Mackay heat, I reckon. A touch of weariness to her cut shot that forces a single through cover, rather than lacing into it through point. Haynes sweeps a couple, another good diving stop on the rope at fine leg. The Indians have been good in the field today. Just haven’t been able to force chances with the ball. And most importantly, were short of runs to begin with. This pitch has got better and better to bat on, it looks like.
18th over: Australia 103-0 (Haynes 35, Healy 65) Poonam Yadav again has to replace Vastrakar after one over. Landing them beautifully against Healy, looping them right up to her toes and having them dip. Late in the over though, the batters both hang back to cut. Healy gets one run, Haynes gets three, kept from four by another excellent dive from Rana. She’s done that twice today, diving over the ball and flicking it back within a few microns of the rope.
17th over: Australia 96-0 (Haynes 31, Healy 63) Sneh Rana comes on, the off-spinner who played so well during India’s recent Test against England and in so doing forced her way back into the ODI team. She can bat, too, the full package. No luck for her first over though, as she turns the ball enough to take an outside edge from Haynes, but sees it roll away fine for four.
16th over: Australia 89-0 (Haynes 24, Healy 63) Vastrakar has been taken from the attack, had a rest, and returns. Her day doesn’t get much better though. 16 from the first over, 10 from this one. Another full toss that Healy can smack over a straight midwicket for four, then a couple of twos on the off side.
Batting looks like a cruise right now. Healy has a century there for the taking, she’s in the sort of flow where only her getting bored and trying something too ambitious might keep her from it.
15th over: Australia 79-0 (Haynes 23, Healy 54) Not sure Healy needs to try the reverse sweep against Poonam. Beaten by the bounce, predictably, as it goes over her gloves. But she gets off strike with a conventional sweep to follow, and Haynes cuts a couple.
14th over: Australia 75-0 (Haynes 20, Healy 53) Again a dance and a hit to the rope. Over mid off from Deepti. A few years Healy had one of the worst top-order batting records in world cricket, in the years since she has one of the best. That is half-century number 13 in ODI cricket for her.
13th over: Australia 67-0 (Haynes 19, Healy 46) First blow against Poonam from Healy, skipping down to the pitch (which is often not easy to do) and driving out through cover for four. That will encourage Australia.
12th over: Australia 61-0 (Haynes 18, Healy 41) Double spin persists with Deepti Sharma. The Australians are working her comfortably though, square of the wicket on both sides. Four singles and a two.
11th over: Australia 55-0 (Haynes 16, Healy 37) This is a big contest. Poonam Yadav, and her achingly slow leg-breaks. They have been the undoing of the Australians before, wanting to attack them but not knowing how. I suspect they’ve done some serious work on this since being embarrassed at the T20 World Cup last year. Today, three singles, one attempted charge from Healy that doesn’t work.
10th over: Australia 52-0 (Haynes 15, Healy 35) Raj turns to spin, bringing on Deepti Sharma to deny the Australians pace. But Haynes skips down second ball and drives straight of mid off for four! There’s the 50 partnership at a good clip. Haynes cuts a couple more behind point. Now she’s up and running too.
9th over: Australia 46-0 (Haynes 9, Healy 35) Pooja Vastrakar the first bowling change to replace Goswami, but she hasn’t learned the lessons from the Goswami spell. Namely, don’t bowl short. Especially to Healy. Another one that’s just fractionally short, almost a hard length, but Healy’s hands are so fast that she takes it off the top of the bounce through midwicket again.
Then gets a full toss, goes the same way, but bigger! Longer. Six. She deliberately hits this one upwards, angling the bat face up to get elevation.
Vastrakar goes back to a shorter length, and Healy pulls for four! Waaay in front of square, splits the gap between mid-on and midwicket and beats the chase. The over costs 16 runs, all of them to Healy.
8th over: Australia 30-0 (Haynes 9, Healy 19) Meghna back in control, managing to bowl seven deliveries at Healy and keep the batter to one run. Also concedes a wide, trying to hit Healy’s leg stump after noting how far she moves across. It doesn’t come off. Healy gets a single to leg from the last ball, after playing everything else to the off-side field.
7th over: Australia 28-0 (Haynes 9, Healy 18) Haynes now, the Aussies going pull for pull, hitting Goswami out through midwicket although some great fielding from Sneh Rana tips the ball back and it stops literally an inch inside the rope. Healy comes on strike with the third run, and Goswami beats her with the short ball finally, thumping into her thigh as Healy tries to pull again. Appeal for lbw, and the ball nearly bounces back onto her stumps, but the keeper survives.
6th over: Australia 24-0 (Haynes 6, Healy 17) Meghna so nearly gets through another tidy over, three runs from five balls, but Healy drags a pull shot away from the sixth. It isn’t well struck, not short enough to pull and she gets more bottom edge than anything on it, but it eventually dribbles into the rope behind square leg.
5th over: Australia 17-0 (Haynes 5, Healy 11) Watches Meghna go by, but just watches Goswami go! Healy cracks another pull shot for four, this time lifted over midwicket, quick as a flash to take the ball off a length with a satisfying crack of the bat.
4th over: Australia 13-0 (Haynes 4, Healy 7) Meghna keeping Haynes very quiet, taking four balls just to get off strike with a little nudge to leg. Healy watches a couple of outswingers go by.
3rd over: Australia 11-0 (Haynes 3, Healy 7) Haynes likes the pull shot, and she’s short of stature so it’s easy for her to get the length to pounce on. Pulls Goswami square for a couple of runs. Doesn’t get it out of the middle. Healy does though! Cracks it for four.
2nd over: Australia 4-0 (Haynes 1, Healy 3) Meghna Singh from the other end, bowling right-arm over and getting some nice outswing shape to Healy, who keeps walking across to address the line of the ball. Edges short of a second slip, Mithali Raj having a cordon in place early.
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Haynes 1, Healy 1) Don’t panic, Australians, we write the scores using the global method given we have all kinds of cricket coverage on this site. Jhulan Goswami starts off exactly as she usually does, hitting a hard length and a tight line on off stump. Only a couple of singles, Healy pulling out the cut shot early but not timing it.
Play to commence, Haynes and Healy opening for Australia.
Thanks Megan, hello all. It has begun. Australia’s cricket summer, I mean. England’s women are still playing over there. England’s Test series only recently (and prematurely) concluded. The last round of the County Championship starts later today, with the Bob Willis Trophy awaiting. And yet, with the northern season not yet complete, the southern begins. What a time we live in.
_(ef04def6065c81ceb7d81c967f1e2095c2d32a4d).png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e9b9293758a22d40baaefc91e2ea77e9)
After a fairly disastrous start for the Australians, with some uncharacteristically rusty bowling from Perry, they showed why they are such a dominant force in world cricket. It was a huge game for Darcie Brown in her second ODI, finishing with 4-33 from her nine overs. Debutant Hannah Darlington was also sensational with 2-29 from eight overs. The Australians will have wanted to keep that total a little lower, but they will be confident that their batters can get this done without too much trouble. I’m looking forward to seeing Healy come out firing, but Rachael Haynes will also have a big role to play at the top. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of my wonderful colleague Geoff Lemon, who will guide you through Australia’s batting innings. Thanks for hanging out with me during that very enjoyable start to the summer of cricket.
50th over: India 225-8 (Meghna 1, Richa 32)
It’s Molineux with the last over and she forces a chance on the second ball, but there are no fielders under it. But on the third ball, she strikes to remove Jhulan and gets a look at the new batter straight away. She does a great job of holding her on strike for the first ball, but Meghna gets herself down the non-strikers end to let Richa finish off the innings. A very good delivery from Molineux finishes it off and doesn’t let Richa get underneath it.
Another good stumping from Healy who is on song with the gloves today. Molineux plays her part perfectly, putting the ball a little bit wider than she has been and tempts Jhulan down the wicket.
49th over: India 221-7 (Jhulan 19, Richa 30)
In the penultimate over, McGrath continues with her spell, but Jhulan is ready to play and smashes her for the first six of the game off the first ball of the over. McGrath tidies up after that, with a dot and then a two that India really have to rush through. Jhulan is hitting the ball very hard, and eventually she’s able replicate that effort from the first ball of the overwith another six from the last after McGrath misses her length. It’s a good over from India, but it’s possibly too little, too late.
48th over: India 204-7 (Jhulan 10, Richa 22)
Molineux returns to the attack and takes the pace off the ball so as not to give the Indian batters the opportunity to use the pace. Richa plays it nicely from the third ball of the over, taking advantage of the vacant slips position to guide the ball to the boundary and follows it up with a lovely cut shot for a second consecutive four.
47th over: India 193-7 (Jhulan 8, Richa 13)
McGrath comes back into the attack and it only takes Jhulan a couple of balls to size her up and steer the ball gently past third for a boundary. McGrath claws it back and doesn’t let the over get away from her.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion