Tag: Cormorants

Women’s Ashes Underway

A look at the opening match of the Women’s Ashes and at the Melbourne derby in the BBL. Also a large photo gallery.

This post is actually a two parter – the first part mentions the opening match of the Women’s Ashes series now underway in Australia, while the second looks at the Melbourne Derby in the BBL.

A BAD DAY FOR ENGLAND

The Women’s Ashes is a multi-format series – three ODIs worth two points each, a test match worth four points and three T20Is worth two points each. Australia as holders will retain the trophy if the series is drawn, meaning that England need to win it outright. The first ODI took place overnight UK time at the North Sydney Oval. There were no great selection surprises. Australia won the toss and put England in. England did not bat well – a number of players got starts but no one managed a really big score, and in the end they only just topped 200. Off spinning all rounder Ashleigh Gardner took 3-19 and also held two catches. England bowled a lot better than they had batted, but the damage was done. Alyssa Healy led the way with 70 off 78 balls, and Gardner also batted well. Ecclestone just failed to complete a catch to dismiss Gardner which would have had Australia 183-7. There were no further chances, and Gardner was 42 not out when Australia completed victory with 11.1 overs to spare. Full scorecard here.

STARS’ LAZARUS ACT

The title of this section has a double meaning – referring to both today’s match and the Melbourne Stars season.

When Stars lost their first five group matches no one would have imagined that they would be anywhere near claiming a knockout slot come the business end. Three successive wins took them into this Melbourne derby still down but not necessarily out. At 75-7 at the end of the 11th over they looked doomed to end their revival, going down to neighbours Renegades. Glenn Maxwell was still there, and was their sole remaining hope. He proceeded to turn the game upside down with a brutal display of hitting. With nine balls remaining in the innings Usama Mir fell an five ball duck – but the 40 balls that Maxwell had faced out of their 45 balls had seen the score advance by 81! Four balls after Mir was dismissed Maxwell’s extraordinary innings came to an end, bowled by Kane Richardson for 90 off 52 balls, including ten sixes and four fours. Peter Siddle, 40 years of age, helped Stars to add a further seven runs before being out to the last ball of the innings. Stars thus had 165 to defend. Every time Renegades looked even vaguely like getting anything going in reply a wicket fell. Renegades took their two over Power Surge for overs 13 and 14, and those two overs seemed certain to settle it one way or another. They did indeed – Renegades had a disaster, accruing a mere seven runs from those two overs and losing three wickets. The required rate was now climbing alarmingly, and by the time eight balls were left in the match Renegades needed 54 to win. They managed to scrape up 11 of those runs, giving Stars victory by 42 runs and a huge net RR boost. Stars now have a long wait for their tenth and final group match, but with the knowledge that if a few intervening results help them they will have a chance to qualify for the knockouts at the last gasp.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A BBL Double Header

Brief accounts of todays BBL matches and two photo galleries.

Greetings from a chilly King’s Lynn (officially the outside temperature is just into positive figures right now, which is a rarity this last week). This morning there were two Big Bash League games. The early game saw Perth Scorchers in action against Sydney Sixers and the later game saw Adelaide Strikers face Brisbane Heat.

SIXERS v SCORCHERS

The Perth Scorchers won the toss and put Sydney Sixers in. At first this move looked like working well – at the end of their four over opening Power Play the Sixers were 19-1. However, the Sixers would compensate for their slow start with a vengeance. By the end of the 10th over Sixers had recovered to 80-2. The Sydney innings was ignited by their Power Surge, which they took for overs 13 and 14 of the innings. They belted those two overs for 35 in total without losing a wicket. They topped 150 off the last ball of the 16th over. Even then Scorchers might have had a chance in the chase, but the last four overs were absolute carnage – 70 runs in total came off them. Sixers thus ended up with 220 to defend. The chief architect of their huge total was Steve Smith, who had been dropped early in his innings, scoring 121 off 64 balls. Moises Henriques scored 46 off 28 balls, and Ben Dwarshuis gave the total a final push into the stratosphere with 23 not out off seven balls at the end. The worst sufferer among the Scorchers bowlers was Andrew Tye, 4-0-62-0.

Scorchers were never in the hunt, and even a seventh wicket stand of 76 between Ashton Turner and Matthew Spoors only reduced the margin of defeat. In the end there were only 16 runs in it. Sean Abbott took 4-43.

PHOTO GALLERY ONE

I am splitting today’s gallery because it is very large…

STRIKERS v HEAT

Heat won the toss, and just as Scorchers had earlier on they opted to bowl first. In their case there was never even a moment of doubt as to just how appallingly that decision had backfired – by the end of their four over opening Power Play the Strikers were 62-0. The field dropping back did not massively slow them,, the opening stand reaching 121 in 8.5 overs before Chris Lynn fell for 47 off 20 balls. Matthew Short continued to blaze away, ultimately scoring 109 off 54 balls. Alex Ross contributed 44 not out off 19 balls, and D’Arcy Short 16* off 10 balls. Strikers had 251-5 from their 20 overs, the second highest total in the history of the BBL. Heat, batting second, under floodlights and with their opponents bowling and fielding in less hot conditions then they themselves had endured earlier fared well in normal terms, but such was the magnitude of the challenge that they never looked remotely capable of surmounting it. A collapse from 146-3 to 158-9 merely underlined the hopelessness of the position in which they had put themselves. The last pair raised that score by 37, though the target had long since become a distant dream, and midway through the 19th over the asking rate went beyond six per ball. D’Arcy Short had 4-15 from three overs of left arm wrist spin and also held two catches in the field, but it was the other Short, Matthew, who was named Player of the Match for his ton and some clever captaincy. Strikers had won by 56 runs, and moved off the bottom of the table. Heat are now in serious trouble, hitting poor form at the wrong time, and probably about to be deprived of Colin Munro due to injury – he batted well down the order today for that reason, while Strikers, for all that are firmly in the last chance saloon even after this win look better placed to grab a qualifying spot, as they are finding form at the right time of the season. It seems to me, following from afar, that too many BBL skippers who win the toss put their opponents in without thought, and today the policy resulted in two losses, both in games that realistically speaking were settled by the end of the first 20 overs.

PHOTO GALLERY TWO

This picture was taken from west of the Great Ouse – yesterday morning was a West Norfolk Autism Group committee meeting in our office space which is just west of the river.
I had had a lift to the meeting, but walked home, after a false start which I corrected just after taking this picture.
The Great Ouse from the western edge of the road bridge across it.
A mute swan briefly taking wing.
This was my first picture of yesterday’s second walk.
These last six pictures starting with this one are from today.
It was misty down by the Great Ouse…
…but overall the sky was clear enough that the moon was visible. Many years ago in a one day match that finished very late umpire Arthur Jepson dismissed an appeal against the light with “you can see the moon – how far do you want to see?”

Australia Secure Border-Gavaskar Trophy

A look back at the final stages of the contest for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and a photo gallery.

Early this morning UK time, midway through the afternoon session of day three in Sydney, Australia completed a six-wicket win over India which gave them a 3-1 series victory with one match drawn, and for the first time in a decade possession of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This post looks at the developments of days two and three of the final match.

DAY TWO

Day two started well for India but in the end left them poorly placed. They secured a small first innings lead, dismissing Australia for 181. Their own second innings however was a poor show with the shining exception of Rishabh Pant. Pant, justly criticized for his two dismissals in the previous match at the MCG, played a magnificent knock on a pitch that always helped the bowlers. He scored 61 off 33 balls, hitting some gorgeous shots. In the circumstances, with wickets falling regularly it was the right way to approach things, and it was an unforgettable display. Even with these pyrotechnics India were still 141-6 at the close of day two, 145 runs ahead overall, and with Bumrah in hospital for scans on an injury.

DAY THREE AND WRAP UP

Ravindra Jadeja was out early, and the tail offered little further resistance. Cummins claimed two of the last four wickets and Boland the other two, his fifth and sixth of the innings and ninth and tenth of the match. Australia lost four wickets en route to victory, but Travis Head and Beau Webster, who had an excellent test debut, scoring 57 and 39 not out, as well as bowling 13 overs for 29 in the first Indian innings and taking 1-24 from four overs in the second, saw through such danger as there was, putting on an unbeaten 58 for the fifth wicket to take Australia over the winning line. Crucially for Australia, although he had batted Jasprit Bumrah did not bowl – their task would have been exponentially tougher had he been able to do so.

Scott Boland’s match haul of 10-76 (4-31 and 6-45) saw him named Player of the Match, while Jasprit Bumrah’s 32 wickets across the five matches saw him named Player of the Series. India came into this match still with a chance to retain the BGT, and that was almost solely due to Bumrah. Without him the only question at the SCG would likely have been whether or not the Aussies could make it 5-0. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Australia Start Well in Sydney

A look at day one of the fifth and final test match in the Austyralia v India series and a photo gallery.

The fifth and final test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy series between Australia and India is underway in Sydney. This post looks at the events of day one.

THE PRELIMINARIES

India were captained by Jasprit Bumrah as Rohit Sharma had been ‘rested’. Prasidh Krishna was a like for like replacement for Akash Deep further down the order. For Australia Mitchell Marsh made way for Beau Webster to make his test debut. Webster is principally a batter, but does have a first-class six-for, taken earlier this season, to his name. Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat first.

INDIA UNABLE TO GET GOING

India needed to bat well, and sadly did not do so. The Australians did bowl well, especially Scott Boland. Mitchell Starc, whose fitness was uncertain coming into this match, took three wickets with his pace, but even he was second fiddle to Boland, who emerged with 4-31. Cummins had two wickets, Lyon one, and Webster on the first day of his test career was economical, sending down 13 overs for 29 runs. India mustered 185 from 72.2 overs in the end. Australia’s openers, Konstas and Khawaja, seemed to be surviving a mini-session of batting with little difficulty, much to the relief of Lyon, padded up to go in as nightwatch if needed, when karma struck. Konstas and Khawaja indulged in some time wasting to ensure there was no possibility of an extra over being sneaked in by India before stumps were drawn, words were exchanged between Konstas and some of the Indian fielders, Khawaja intervened to defuse the situation, and then the remaining delivery could finally be bowled. Karma, using Jasprit Bumrah’s arm as its agent now punished the Aussie openers – that sole remaining delivery took the edge of Khawaja’s bat and was caught by Rahul behind the stumps. Australia thus ended the day 9-1 after three overs in reply to India’s 185. If 14.4 overs seems considerably more than can be accounted for by a mere innings break you are spot on – over rates were disgracefully slow all through the day, and even if there had not been the innings break a good dozen of those 14.4 overs would have gone unbowled.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I lost some of my photographs when the memory card I had been using malfunctioned yesterday. Fortunately I have a spare, and though it has been cold, especially when the wind blows, the last couple of days have been bright and sunny, so I do still have my usual sign off…

The first seven pictures have appeared before – there were plenty of others from that day as well.
Yesterday afternoon, post work in Fakenham.
The first picture from today.
I acquired these cigarette cards a while back, but have not got them on display – I was looking through them today and photographed some on a whim.

The Final Day at the MCG

A look back at the ending to the test match between Australia and India at the MCG and a large photo gallery.

This post is a few days late – between the Christmas Panto and work I have been busy in the early part of this week. In it I look back at the final day of the Australia v India test match at the MCG.

A RASH SHOT AND A
DRS CONTROVERSY

When India reached tea on day five only three wickets down in their second innings, and with Yashavsi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant having batted through the afternoon session without too many signs of difficulty a draw looked likely. Immediately on the resumption Pant was tempted into a rash shot against a short ball and was caught in the deep, the second time he had tossed his wicket away in the course of this match. This dismissal was not quite as appalling as his first innings one, but he should have taken care to play the ball down in to the ground – India were looking to bat through for a draw, so safety first should have been the guiding thoughts. That opened the door for Australia, and when Ravindra Jadeja and first innings centurion Nitish Kumar Reddy both fell cheaply the door was practically off its hinges. The moment that effectively sealed India’s doom came via the Decision Review System (DRS). Yashavsi Jaiswal, on 84 and playing beautifully was given not out in response to an appeal for a catch. The Australians sent it upstairs. The replay appeared to show a deflection from either bat or glove, but the snickometer did not pick up any sound. Nevertheless, knowing that it was effectively handing the match to Australia, the third umpire, faced with conflicting evidence decided to go with the visual clue rather than the lack of a noise and told the on-field umpire to reverse his decision and give it out. That left Washington Sundar and three tail enders with a long time still to bat, and they did not come close.

Over the five days some 373,000 spectators watched at the ground, a record for a test in Australia, beating one that had stood since the 1936-7 Ashes when the star attraction was a certain DG Bradman.

Pat Cummins, with 90 runs across the two Australian innings and six wickets across the two Indian ones, was awarded the Mullagh Medal for Player of the Match (Johnny Mullagh was part of the all-aboriginal party that toured England in 1868, and showed himself to be a fine all rounder on that tour).

Australia won by 184 runs in the end, and as well as Pant’s two batting errors, the second of which opened the way for India’s final collapse, India were poor in the field, at least four clear cut chances being dropped. Australia now lead the series 2-1, meaning that so long as they do not lose in Sydney they regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, which has been in Indian hands for a decade. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Most of these are from the back end of 2024, but I have included some from today…

The venue for the Pantomime.
The first 2025 picture I have posted.

Day Four at the MCG

A look back at fay four at the MCG and a large picture gallery.

This post looks back at the events of day four of the test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A DAY OF UPS AND DOWNS

At one point after a great spell of bowling from Jasprit Bumrah, in the course of which he became a member of a club of one – bowlers with 200+ test wickets at under 20 a piece (among those whose careers have ended only Syd Barnes with 189 scalps at 16.43 each even has over 150 at under 20) – Australia were 91-6, 196 runs ahead. By the end of the day they were 228-9, 333 runs to the good. That margin is significant – the biggest ever successful fourth innings chase at this ground was 332-7 by England in the 1928-9 Ashes, Herbert Sutcliffe chiselling out 135, his second Ashes settling innings in two and a half years, following his 161 at the Oval in 1926 which left England with an effectively unassailable lead going into the fourth innings. However, in giving themselves this many to defend but not as yet declaring (an overnight declaration is possible), Australia may well have deprived themselves of sufficient time to dismiss India in the fourth innings – and Australia are more in need of a win than India, who as holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy need only to draw the series to retain it. Bumrah’s burst notwithstanding it has to be classed as Australia’s day, but it has a dog-in-the-manger feel to it with Australia not in a position to take that attitude.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Today there was a WNAG pizza making session at Pizza Express. This was my product in its finished state.

India’s Revival

A look at the events of day three at the MCG and a mention of the miseries of Melbourne Stars. Also a huge photo gallery.

This post is largely devoted to the events of day three of the Australia v India test match at the MCG.

A BAD START

India had reached 164-5 at the end of day two, in reply to Australia’s first innings 474 (see here for more details). Pant and Jadeja had advanced that score to 191 when Pant fell to a truly awful dismissal, walking straight into very obvious trap set by Australia. That brought Nitish Kumar Reddy to the crease. The youngster is in his fourth test match and had made useful but not major batting contributions in all of the first three. With 84 still needed to avoid the follow-on things were looking grim for India, and when Jadeja departed at 221 it still looked bad for them…

THE GREAT REVIVAL

Washington Sundar now joined Reddy, and India enjoyed their best period of the match. The pair put on 127 together for the eighth wicket, in the process removing follow-on considerations from the equation. Sundar contributed exactly 50 of those, and Reddy was approaching a greater milestone. He was on 99 when Jasprit Bumrah was ninth out, but Siraj, a genuine tailender, rose to the occasion and held out for long enough for the landmark to be achieved. The weather also made its presence felt, eventually halting play a little early, with India 358-9, Reddy 105 not out. Australia lead by 116 with two days to play. Scott Boland, who knows this ground better than anyone else involved in the test match, reckons that Australia need to give themselves four sessions to get India out a second time. If they cannot do that India will go Sydney needing only a draw to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

MELBOURNE STARS MISERY

Readers of this blog may recall that the Melbourne Stars women finished WBBL10 holding the wooden spoon. The 14th edition of the men’s BBL is now well underway, and Melbourne Stars defeat at the hands of Sydney Thunder today means that they have started the tournament with five losses in a row, which even with the qualification rules being over generous almost certainly means that they will not feature beyond the league stage.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Two Very Different BBL Matches

A look back at yesterday and today’s BBL games and a large photo gallery.

Yesterday Brisbane Heat took on Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, and today saw Melbourne Renegades face Perth Scorchers. This post looks back at both matches.

A LAST BALL THRILLER

The fortunes of war swayed hither and thither in this game, and there were periods when each side appeared to be heading for an easy win. It ended up being a day of triumph for Nathan McSweeney of the Brisbane Heat, recently dropped from the Australian test side after three matches in which he achieved basically nothing. Bashing the ball around in a T20, even one of high standard, is a rather different exercise to fronting up to Jasprit Bumrah with the new ball in his hand in a test match, and McSweeney made the most of being in a less intimidating setting. He scored 78 not out off 49 balls, backed by another former test player, Matt Renshaw, who scored 54 off 27 balls. Nevertheless, in spite of the heroics of these two, it took Brisbane Heat until the final possible ball to secure the win, and they were seven down. Strikers efforts had a touch of Rome and Avignon 700 years ago about them – Ollie Pope scored 34 and held a catch, while his namesake Lloyd took 2-17, – but even with two Popes on side simultaneously they were unable to win in the end. Scorecard here.

A GAME OF FOUR QUARTERS

After 10 overs Perth Scorchers, having lost the bat flip and been put in, were 48–4 and seemingly already beaten. They rallied to post 143-8, a total that still looked inadequate but at least wasn’t downright risible. Cooper Connolly scored 66 for the Scorchers, and Canadian international Matthew Spoors managed 29. Other than those two only extras with exactly 10 reached double figures. Tom Rogers was the pick of the bowlers, with 3-22 from his four overs.

Melbourne Renegades made a racing start to the chase, though they lost wickets along the way. Jacob Bethell and Laurie Evans seemed to have settled things with a 50 partnership, but Bethell fell to the fourth ball of the tenth over to make it 96-4, at which point drinks were taken. With a mere 48 needed from 10.2 overs Renegades should not have been in the slightest hint of trouble, but they played some brainless cricket in the second half of their innings. They were eight down and had only one over remaining when they finally sealed. Will Sutherland, a member of the ‘not even the best in the family’ club (outranked in his case by sister Annabel, whose many achievements include a test match double century against South Africa), saw the Renegades home to a not entirely well deserved win with 15 not out in the closing stages. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England Women Triumph

A look at how England Women completed an emphatic victory over South Africa Women in the test match at Bloemfontein, meaning they had won every element of the tour, and a photo gallery.

England’s Women completed their tour of South Africa by winning a thumping victory in the test match, meaning that they have won every leg of the tour, having already won the T20I and ODI series. This post looks back at what happened in the closing stages of the test match.

KNIGHT HOLDS ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS TOGETHER

England had a 114 run lead on first innings, and they extended that to precisely 350 on a pitch starting to misbehave . There were two noteworthy performances, one on each side. Heather Knight was chiefly responsible for England getting as many as they did, fighting her way to 90. Nonkululeko Mlaba was the bowling star for the proteas, taking 6-79 to give her 10 wickets in the match.

A HORRENDOUS COLLAPSE

South Africa had an awkward mini-session to negotiate before the tea interval. A target of 351 already looked fairly mountainous to begin with, and when Laura Wolvaardt was trapped LBW for 4 to make it 8-1 it took on Everest proportions. Right on the stroke of tea Lauren Filer trapped the other opener Anneke Bosch LBW for 4 and it was 15-2 after 5.2 overs. At 22 Bell had Annerie Dercksen caught by Beaumont (a slightly controversial dismissal, as the umpires conferred before giving it, and the only doubt they could have had was whether Dercksen had actually made contact – Beaumont had certainly made the catch). Then came the period that ensured that the third day would be the last (I was at work when this happened, but listened to the commentary on catch up when I was back home). At 31 Sune Luus was bowled by a beauty from Bell, and then Nadine de Klerk suffered a horror run out immediately after (would have been a horror in any situation and any format, but in a test match with the innings in the process of going into freefall it was particularly atrocious). Two runs later Sophie Ecclestone, who had relieved Lauren Filer, pinned Chloe Tryon plumb in front. When Sinalo Jafta was trapped in front by a superb ball from Bell it was 44-7, and moments later Beaumont took a catch off Ecclestone to account for Kapp whose 21 represented the sum total of protea resistance in the fourth innings to that point. It was then 44-8, and it was known that Ayanda Hlubi was not going to bat due to being injured. Tumi Sekhukhune and Nonkululeko Mlaba added 20 to this dismal total, before Mlaba was run out, failing to get her bat grounded quick enough to beat Bell’s throw. It was appropriate that Bell finished the match – she had taken four cheap wickets in each innings (4-49 and 4-27) in addition to effecting that run out, and was named Player of the Match. The England bowling unit was excellent (Dean didn’t bowl well in the only innings in which she got to bowl, but that was the only blemish). Lauren Filer’s pace, Lauren Bell’s swing (and cut, a new development for her) with the added awkwardness created by her height, the craft and guile of Ecclestone and Dean and the reliable medium pace options provided by Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ryana McDonald-Gay meant that the injured Kate Cross was barely missed in the event. If you are wondering how England were able to accommodate six genuine front line bowling options in a test match line up the answer is simple: Sciver-Brunt is one of the best batters in the side, and Dean, Ecclestone and McDonald-Gay can all be considered all rounders (although she batted at number nine in this match I suspect that McDonald-Gay will be moving up the order before too long – she is probably better with the bat than either Dean or Ecclestone). A full scorecard is available here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Three Overlapping Matches

Detailed looks at the men’s match between Australia and India and the women’s match between South Africa and England that are currently in progress, a mention of the men’s match between New Zealand and England, a 35 second video and a photo gallery.

The New Zealand and England men’s teams are currently playing the third match of a series already won by England, while the Australian and Indian men’s teams are playing the third match of a five match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the South Africa and England women’s teams are playing a one-off test match to end England’s tour there. This post looks at goings on in these matches, the second and third in a bit of detail as I have been able to follow them. As for the first, suffice to say that it looks like England are copping a hammering and that said result will be entirely justified.

THE GABBA: AUSTRALIA v THE WEATHER

The third match of the series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Brisbane has lost a lot of time to the weather with possibly more interruptions in the two days that remain. The weather has done rather more to stand in Australia’s way than India have managed. India won the toss and opted to field, a lure that has tempted several captains there in the past, though the results should influence modern era skippers against doing so: Hutton put Australia in in 1954-5 and they scored 601-8 declared and won by an innings and 160 runs, though England fought back to win the second, third and fourth matches of that series; Border put England in in 1986-7 and they scored 456, bowled Australia out twice and knocked off the runs needed in the fourth innings; and finally Hussain put Australia in in 2001-2, the hosts were 367-2 at the end of day one and won a thumping victory. Unless the rain persists Rohit Sharma will come away with the same result as those three did – Australia have scored 445, a total kept within some sort of bound only by Jasprit Bumrah who emerged with 6-79. In such batting time as the rain has allowed them in their own first innings India have limped to 48-4, meaning that Australia need 16 more wickets to win and are 397 ahead, given that we are going into day four and there is still rain about, if they do indeed bowl India out for 245 or less it will be mandatory to enforce the follow on.

THE GHOSTS OF DRS PAST AND FUTURE HAUNT CSA

This test match will almost be the last such game involving either sex not to feature the Decision Review System – both the England innings, and the South African response still in progress have featured moments where the absence of DRS for this match has been crucial, and England have been the beneficiaries of both. Tammy Beaumont was given not out in response to a concerted appeal for LBW on the second ball of the match, and South Africa would certainly have sent it upstairs had DRS been in place, and would very probably have seen it overturned. In the South African innings their skipper Laura Wolvaardt was on 65 and frankly looking impossible to dislodge when a ball from Ecclestone struck her pads and she was given LBW. Wolvaardt made it obvious that she was certain that she had nicked it into her pads, and with DRS in place she would have sent it upstairs and it would have been overturned. Maia Bouchier scored a century on her test debut, and Natalie Sciver-Brunt also contributed a ton, reached off just 96 balls, to England’s efforts. England fell away a bit late in their innings, but a score of 395-9 declared is not to be sniffed at. At 237-3 with Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus going well South Africa looked to be heading for somewhere close to parity, but Kapp being bowled by Ryana McDonald-Gay opened an end for England, and wickets have been falling regularly since then. The latest go has been Chloe Tryon, clipping one from Lauren Bell straight into the hands of Tammy Beaumont. Luus had succumbed just previously to a fearsome burst from Lauren Filer, finally fencing one into the gloves of Amy Jones behind the stumps to go for 56. Number nine Tumi Sekhukhune  has just got off the mark with a four, but at 275-7 South Africa are 120 adrift with only three first innings wickets standing. Things have moved on while I have been preparing this post for publication – Lauren Bell has bowled Jafta with a beauty and then with her next ball, assisted by the number 10 backing away so much that she was practically in a different post code from the ball, removed Nonkululeko Mlaba’s middle stump. Nat Sciver-Brunt has just terminated the innings by pinning Ayanda Hlubi LBW for 1 and South Africa are all out for 281, giving England a first innings lead of 114.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Before I produce my latest photo gallery I have a short video to share with you…

Now for the photo gallery…