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Women's Ashes

2 months ago
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Women's Ashes

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme but I thought that MacDonald-Gay shot went for four. Instead it was given as three, which meant Filer was on strike. The next ball went straight up the chimney.55th over: England 137-7 (Sciver-Brunt 49, MacDonald-Gay 1) Sciver-Brunt, who has little choice but to attack now, slog-sweeps King just […]

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme but I thought that MacDonald-Gay shot went for four. Instead it was given as three, which meant Filer was on strike. The next ball went straight up the chimney.55th over: England 137-7 (Sciver-Brunt 49, MacDonald-Gay 1) Sciver-Brunt, who has little choice but to attack now, slog-sweeps King just short of the fielder at backward square. She takes the single even though it’s only the second ball of the over; you’d expect her to farm the strike if she’s still there when England are eight and nine down.
65th over: England 157-9 (MacDonald-Gay 9, Bell 0) MacDonald-Gay – who has defended really well, almost too well – plays out another maiden from King.
70th over: England 169-9 (MacDonald-Gay 14, Bell 7) Gardner replaces Brown, who bowled a hostile spell of 5-1-11-1. Bell edges wide of slip for two and then dumps a slog-sweep for four. She enjoyed that and breaks into a big smile.
Gardner drops short later in the over and is cut for two. There are a couple of LBW appeals as well but on both occasions Wyatt-Hodge got outside the line. Hang on, Healy has reviewed the second one. This is closer than I realised.That’s another terrific effort from Australia’s bowlers. Kim Garth and Darcie Brown set the tone with the new ball and Alana King bowled a magical spell to take out England’s middle order. She couldn’t quite get her first Test five-for, but figures of 23-6-45-4 are an apt reflection of her brilliance.

47th over: England 120-4 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Wyatt-Hodge 15) That was the last ball of the over. I can’t tell you how well Alan King is bowling.King may not need to do any more bowling. Filer slogs Brown straight up in the air and is well caught by Voll, diving forward from slip.
So much for Gardner not being as threatening as King! She has bowled Amy Jones with a nice delivery that skidded on to hit the off stump. Jones was back when she should have been forward and played defensively down the wrong line.51st over: England 130-5 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Jones 3) A maiden from King to Sciver-Brunt, whose main focus right now is survival.52nd over: England 131-6 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Ecclestone 1) Sophie Ecclestone might as well give it a lash. England’s best chance of getting back in the game is to bowl with the new ball under the lights, especially as they’ve picked three frontline seamers. But right now Australia look far too good.
69th over: England 162-9 (MacDonald-Gay 13, Bell 1) A short ball from King is seized upon by MacDonald-Gay, but she can’t beat cover with a rare attacking stroke. Australia are being made to wait by England’s last pair; they’ve added five in 33 balls.68th over: England 161-9 (MacDonald-Gay 12, Bell 1) Bell swings and misses at two deliveries from Brown that somehow miss the stumps. England should slog one up in the air and start bowling.
53rd over: England 136-7 (Sciver-Brunt 48, MacDonald-Gay 1) Ryana MacDonald-Gay, a 20-year-old playing only her second Test, is the new batter. She gets off the mark with a single on the leg side. Sciver-Brunt waves a stylish boundary through extra cover.There’s the first one! Voll chases a wide half-volley and snicks it through to Amy Jones. It wasn’t a quite ball, in truth, but you can get those rewards when you pitch the ball up.

That’s one way to end the innings. MacDonald-Gay cuts Gardner to point and sets up for an exceedingly risky single. Bell is well short when Mooney collects the throw and breaks the stumps.
62nd over: England 150-8 (MacDonald-Gay 6, Filer 4) MacDonald-Gay is defending diligently and has 6 from 38 balls. But I’m not sure there’s any point in England hanging around here. The next two hours should be the best time to bowl, certainly for the seamers.
Wyatt-Hodge premeditates a lap over her shoulder for two runs, almost chips a return catch and then takes a single into the covers. It feels like a matter of time before King gets Wyatt-Hodge. She is bowling exquisitely and ends the over with a slower, loopy legbreak that beats Sciver-Brunt all ends up.
66th over: England 159-9 (MacDonald-Gay 10, Bell 1) Bell fences Brown towards second slip, where Voll drops a two-handed catch to her left. I reckon she’d take that seven or eight times out of 10. Maybe she just wants King to get a five-for.Ellyse Perry landed awkwardly on her hip while diving in the field and will continue to be assessed. She’s not expected to come back on the field this session.

The players are back on the field. Alana King has the ball.

59th over: England 144-8 (MacDonald-Gay 4, Filer 0) King needs one more for her maiden Test five-for.
MacDonald-Gay, who has started her innings pretty well in the circumstances, drags Gardner past leg stump for three.
1st over: Australia 3-0 (Litchfield 1, Voll 2) Georgia Voll makes a confident start, scrunching her first ball through the covers for two runs. Lauren Bell responds with an absolute jaffa later in the over; it was angled in from wide on the crease and straightened sharply to beat the outside edge.
That didn’t take long. Ecclestone drives King straight to short cover, where Garth takes a simple catch. King, who is bowling quite beautifully, needs two more wickets for her maiden Test five-for.
That would have made a great TV feature: King and the king chatting legspin for half an hour.
48th over: England 125-4 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Wyatt-Hodge 20) Wyatt-Hodge skips down the track to dump Gardner back over her head for a one-bounce four. She made 2 from the first 22 balls and 18 from the next 20.
We’re watching a genius at work. King beat Sciver-Brunt with a stunning legbreak that ran for two byes – arguably the ball of the series – before cleaning her up with a classic flipper. Sciver-Brunt didn’t expect it and was in a horrible position as the ball skidded through to hit the stumps. Shane Warne in his mid-1990s pomp could not have bettered that.
There’s still a bit happening for the English seamers, certainly enough to keep them interested. Litchfield pushes defensively at Bell and gets a thick edge onto the pad.
It’s hard to tell on TV, although you can see lots of empty seats in the background when the focusses on one player. The fact the series is over probably hasn’t helped.
43rd over: England 102-4 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Wyatt-Hodge 2) A cracking over from Alana King has Wyatt-Hodge in all sorts. The England batter does well not to nick the first delivery as it straightens up, then has little idea of the next as King gets a touch too much turn to find an edge. Wyatt-Hodge picks up a single through cover off the last ball but she was really hanging on there.
64th over: England 157-9 (MacDonald-Gay 9, Bell 0) Lauren Bell survives the rest of the over, which means, neck permitting, Alana King will have a chance to complete a five-for.Georgia Voll, making her Test debut, and Phoebe Litchfield walk out to the middle. This the game, right here. If England don’t take early wickets they will be in a world of pain. It should be a good time to bowl. Should.50th over: England 130-5 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Jones 3) Gardner hasn’t threatened as much as King, even though she’s getting plenty of turn from outside off stump. Two from the over.

It’s a pleasure to watch King when she’s bowling this; her figures are 16-4-37-3.In the men’s Test, Australia have gone past 500 and Josh Inglis is into the sixties on debut. You can follow that with Angus Fontaine.
49th over: England 128-5 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Jones 1) Australia are one wicket away from the bowlers and two from a pretty long tail.
“Morning Rob, morning everyone,” says Guy Hornsby. “A feast of Test cricket this freezing morning. Australia grinding Sri Lanka in Galle and this consumate performance at the MCG today. England are fighting the good fight here but watching the last half hour of Alana King with the ball on a string. Dunkley will kick herself with her last shot, and Danny Wyatt-Hodge was completely pinned down with almost no out shot on the off side and the ball fizzing past her stumps. She truly is a brilliant leg spin bowler. Warne would’ve loved this.”

46th over: England 116-4 (Sciver-Brunt 40, Wyatt-Hodge 15) Wyatt-Hodge tries to pull Gardner and drags the ball behind square for four. She did quite well in the end because the ball kept low. There’s another unsuccessful LBW appeal against Wyatt-Hodge when she pushes around a textbook off-break; that looked closer than the last but Australia decide not to review. It was definitely pad first and in line, though it may well have been bouncing over and/or going down.
There’s a bit of movement for the England bowlers, probably not as much as they hoped. They could probably bowl a fraction fuller.Australia review for LBW! King hits MacDonald-Gay on the back pad with a very full delivery. It’s given not out but Australia have two reviews left so they are may as well go for it. I think this will be out.
Filer chips the last ball just over mid-on for four. It will never cease to fascinate me that tailenders frequently outscore specialist batters; Filer already has more runs than Maia Bouchier and Amy Jones.
8th over: Australia 19-1 (Litchfield 7, Sutherland 0) Litchfield is beaten by Filer, then gets a thick edge into the off side. That’s Filer best over so far, a maiden.

45th over: England 112-4 (Sciver-Brunt 40, Wyatt-Hodge 11) Sciver-Brunt sweeps a single, which allows King another crack at Wyatt-Hodge. She has a slip, gully and silly point in place.
Litchfield and Voll, both aged 21, could feasibly be Australia’s opening partnership in the year 2040. Litchfield shows her class with a beautiful drive through mid-off for four when Bell overpitches. That’s the risk of going fuller, though I still think it’s the best approach for England. If they don’t take wickets plural tonight, they will be facing a whitewash.
5th over: Australia 8-0 (Litchfield 1, Voll 7) Voll clips Bell just over the leaping Beaumont at short leg. Litchfield, who looks slightly tentative, feels for a wider delivery and is beaten. She has 1 from 19 balls, Voll 7 from 11.71st over: England 170-9 (MacDonald-Gay 15, Bell 7) On we go. I’m still not sure these are the greatest tactics from England; this is the best time for their seamers to bowl.
In Galle, Josh Inglis has panelled a 90-ball hundred on debut. You can follow that with Jim Wallace.43.5 overs: England 108-4 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Wyatt-Hodge 8) Thanks Martin, hello everyone. It’ll be spin at both ends, with Ash Gardner replacing Annabel Sutherland. Her first ball is too full and driven stylishly to the cover boundary by Wyatt-Hodge. That’s really good batting – she has struggled so much against King that it would be easy to think only of survival and miss out on a four-ball at the other end.

4th over: Australia 7-0 (Litchfield 1, Voll 6) Filer angles an excellent delivery past Litchfield’s defensive push. I still think she could bowl slightly fuller, even if that comes with the risk of being driven.
63rd over: England 154-8 (MacDonald-Gay 6, Filer 8) Filer swats a legbreak back towards King, who misses a return catch. I don’t think she even touched the ball as she dived to her right, a reminder that the pink ball can be hard to pick up when you don’t have much reaction time.
7th over: Australia 19-1 (Litchfield 7, Sutherland 0) Ellyse Perry injured herself in the field, so Annabel Sutherland comes in at No3. Perry should be okay to bat tomorrow.
It was a matter of time. Wyatt-Hodge tries to turn King to leg and gets a leading edge to the right of Litchfield at silly point. She swoops to take a brilliant low catch. King has 2 for 30 and could well clean up in the next hour.

46.6 overs: England 120-4 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Wyatt-Hodge 15) A rare bad ball from King is swept round the corner for four by Sciver-Brunt. She’s beaten by the next ball, another seductively flighted leg-break. This isn’t cricket, it’s artistry – and King may have got her reward. Sciver-Brunt edges to slip but Healy isn’t sure whether it carried.

MacDonald-Gay is not out! Scratch that. It was on course to hit the stumps but MacDonald-Gay got a big inside edge onto the pad.
A note from Cricket Australia on Ellyse Perry

MacDonald-Gay times Brown down the ground for three, with King making a ifne stop on the boundary. She’s hurt herself in the process and is on her haunches, occasionally feeling her neck.
57th over: England 141-7 (Sciver-Brunt 50, MacDonald-Gay 4) Australia appeal unsuccessfully for caught behind when MacDonald-Gay swishes at King. MacDonald-Gay looks slightly shifty but Australia decided not to review. She definitely edges the next ball, with Mooney dropping a tough chance up to the stumps.
44th over: England 108-4 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Wyatt-Hodge 8) The last ball of the over is defended solidly. Wyatt-Hodge will be relieved that she isn’t at King’s end.
The commentary team think Healy was standing too tall at slip, which is why her hands were going down with such momentum when she took that catch.

9th over: Australia 24-1 (Litchfield 7, Sutherland 5) Sutherland gets off the mark by timing Bell classily to the left of mid-off for four. Cricket Australia have announced that Ellyse Perry won’t bat tonight and will be reassessed in the morning.

Filer is really struggling to get her line and length right at the same time. It might be worth an early change to Ryana MacDonald-Gay or Nat Sciver-Brunt.

67th over: England 160-9 (MacDonald-Gay 11, Bell 1) Bell gets nowhere near a full toss that hits her on the boot outside leg stump. She and King both burst out laughing at the absurdity of this particular mismatch-up.3rd over: Australia 7-0 (Litchfield 1, Voll 6) Voll gets her first boundary in Test cricket with a cracking cover drive off Bell. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it won’t be her last.
58th over: England 142-7 (Sciver-Brunt 51, MacDonald-Gay 4) MacDonald-Gay defends solidly to see out the last over of the session from Gardner. It was Australia’s session and no mistake: 32 overs, 78 runs, four wickets. Three of them fell to the magician, Alana King, who bowled delightfully throughout. Nat Sciver-Brunt’s unbeaten 51 just about kept England afloat.
Litchfield clips the last ball off the pads to short leg, where Beaumont fields and throws at the stumps in one movement. It misses and I think Litchfield would have been home anyway, but it was a good piece of fielding.
6th over: Australia 14-0 (Litchfield 2, Voll 12) A full bunger from Filer is put away through mid-off by Voll. She’s made a serene start to her first Test innings.

61st over: England 150-8 (MacDonald-Gay 6, Filer 4) A quiet over from King for once.
Nat Sciver-Brunt was the only England batter to go past 25. She made a subdued but determined 51 before King bowled her with a jaffa.Wyatt-Hodge is not out! Nope, my first judgement was the correct one: outside the line, not out, Australia lose a review. They still have two left.“How is the crowd turn out this evening?” writes Emma. “Did people show up after work to see some Aussie runs?”2nd over: Australia 3-0 (Litchfield 1, Voll 2) Lauren Filer has two slips, a gully and short leg in place. Her first over is a bit of a range-finder, with Litchfield only playing when strictly necessary. A maiden.
60th over: England 149-8 (MacDonald-Gay 5, Filer 4) Healy shows her ruthless side by bringing back Darcie Brown to bowl at the tail. A short ball follows Filer, thumps into the glove and loops to second slip – but Australia barely appeal and don’t even discuss a review. That was clearly out. I suspect they thought it hit Filer on the arm rather than the wrist.
That’s drinks and also time for me to hand over to Rob Smyth for the second half of the opening day of this historic MCG Test. I’ll be back with you tomorrow, so until then, enjoy …
54th over: England 136-7 (Sciver-Brunt 48, MacDonald-Gay 1) A maiden from Gardner to MacDonald-Gay.56th over: England 141-7 (Sciver-Brunt 50, MacDonald-Gay 4) Sciver-Brunt turns Gardner for a single to reach her half-century from 121 balls. You can’t keep a good goat down. It’s been a subdued innings, played with a kind of solemn defiance; England would be in an even bigger heap withtout it.

Sciver-Brunt is not out! It was another gorgeous legspinner that took the edge as Sciver-Brunt pushed forward defensively. Healy stooped to take the catch but her momentum took her hands down and onto the turf. The issue is whether she had her fingers under the ball. The replays aren’t conclusive but suggest she probably didn’t, so Sciver-Brunt survives, for now.Filer responds by slogging a boundary through midwicket.
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