Early this morning UK time Australia Women completed an emphatic ten wicket win in their test match against India Women at the WACA in Perth. This post looks at the three principal contributors to that result (with apologies to 35 year old Ellyse Perry, who I hope has a few more years left in her, for classing her for the purposes of this post as ‘past’).
ELLYSE PERRY
The veteran (who started as a bowler batting at number eight) was not called upon with the ball in this match, but she contributed a splendid 76 with the bat, an innings that saw her move to the top of the Australian Women’s all time test career run scoring list with 1,006 runs in the format.
ANNABEL SUTHERLAND
At the age of 24 Annabel Sutherland is well established as one of the game’s great all rounders. Even by her standards her performance in this match was incredible. In the first Indian innings she took 4-46, a test career best with the ball. Then she dominated the Australian reply, scoring 129, her fourth test century (a new Australian record, putting her behind only Jan Brittin of England who amassed five such scores in a career spanning almost two decades), which ensured that Australia had a big first innings lead. Remarkably she has now converted four 50+ scores in test cricket out of four into centuries. Three of those centuries have come in Perth. She added a further 2-15 in the Indian second innings to her earlier contributions, and was not required to bat in the second Australian innings.
LUCY HAMILTON
19 year old Lucy Hamilton was on debut, having shown herself to be a fine left arm pace bowler who can bat. She bowled superbly, taking 3-31 in the first Indian innings and 3-32 in the second, and in between times played a very useful little innings of 23, which helped move Australia from 79 ahead at the fall of the eighth wicket to their final advantage of 125. Her emergence onto the international scene has confirmed that Australia have unearthed yet another star. Hamilton hails from Bundaberg, a small sugar growing, rum making town which long ago produced Don Tallon, named by Don Bradman as the best keeper he ever saw in action. Full scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
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