The first ODI of the England v Sri Lanka women’s series has come to a very premature end, with England winning by seven wickets with 32 overs (of a possible 50) unused in their innings. This post looks back at the match.
A DAY OF THREES
England fielded three ODI debutants, Mahika Gaur, Lauren Filer and Maia Bouchier. In Sri Lanka’s beggarly 106 all out three bowlers each took three wickets – Gaur, Filer and Sarah Glenn. England lost three wickets in their successful run chase, and the third debutant, Maia Boucher was on 17* (17) at the end, meaning that all three debutants had reasons to be proud of their performances.
AMY JONES SETS NEW RECORD
England induced a number of edges, meaning that wicket keeper Amy Jones was often in action. She held five catches, the first England keeper to do so in a Women’s ODI.
SPLITTING THREE-FORS
Mahika Gaur was named Player of the Match for her 3-26. Her three-for was more significant than those of Filer and Glenn (though Filer was particularly impressive) because it included both openers, one of whom, Chamari Athapaththu, is unquestionably the prize wicket whenever Sri Lanka women are batting. Gaur’s new ball burst, the first by an England woman on debut since Isa Guha in 2001 (before Guha, Sue Redfern, involved in this match as on-field umpire, also took the new ball on England ODI debut).
BATTING HIGHLIGHTS
In such a low scoring affair there were naturally few batting highlights. Only two players in the match managed as many as 30 – Harshitha Samarawickrama scored 35 for Sri Lanka, offering the only real resistance on show during their innings and Tammy Beaumont, back at the top of the order for England after not being selected for the T20I series, scored a punchy 32, being the only player on either side to have an SR above 100. Emma Lamb with 27 and Heather Knight with 22 also made useful contributions for England, and Nat Sciver-Brunt was batting alongside Bouchier at the end.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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