ENGLAND WIN BY 121 RUNS!
20th over: South Africa 129-6 (Luus 3, Ismail 1) England complete an almost perfect match, in which they broke two significant records: the highest total in IT20 cricket history and now the highest winning margin by runs. Tammy Beaumont’s coruscating 116 was the highlight but there were so many brilliant performances, including a ridiculous spell of three overs for two runs from Anya Shrubsole at the start of the innings. Thanks for your company, goodnight.
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WICKET! South Africa 127-6 (Lackay c Sciver b Hazell 4)
Another one for Dani Hazell, with Lackay swinging straight to midwicket. Two balls remaining.
19th over: South Africa 124-5 (Lackay 2, Luus 1) England made a record score when they batted and now they are on course for a record victory. South Africa need 11 runs from the final over to deny them.
WICKET! South Africa 123-5 (van Niekerk c Shrubsole b Brunt 72)
Anya Shrubsole ends van Niekerk’s innings with a spectacular swooping catch at mid-off! Van Niekerk made a fine 72 from 51 balls, and probably thought she was moving to 76 when she slapped Katherine Brunt towards mid-off. Shrubsole had other ideas.
18th over: South Africa 123-4 (van Niekerk 72, Lackay 2) England’s T20 form has been up and down in recent times but this emphatic victory is a fine way to start the tournament. On this evidence they will surely be facing New Zealand in the final.
17th over: South Africa 115-4 (van Niekerk 65, Lackay 0) Jones hurts her back while saving six with brilliant piece of fielding on the square-leg boundary. She’s okay to continue. Gunn’s over – which includes a 37mph over – with consecutive slog-swept sixes from van Niekerk. She has played heroically in the face of certain defeat.
16th over: South Africa 101-4 (van Niekerk 52, Lackay 0)
WICKET! South Africa 101-4 (du Preez c Knight b Ecclestone 25)
Mignon du Preez falls, driving Ecclestone straight to mid-off. England could still pull of a record victory - they need to restrict South Africa to fewer than 135.
15th over: South Africa 98-3 (van Niekerk 50, du Preez 24) Dane van Niekerk works Anya Shrubsole for a single to reach a really impressive half-century. It’s strange to praise a captain’s innings when her team are getting stuffed, but she has set an admirable example. Shrubsole ends with the startling figures of 4-2-8-0.
14th over: South Africa 92-3 (van Niekerk 46, du Preez 22) Knight saves four with a fine diving stop at mid-off. Both teams are still scrapping as if the match is in the balance, which depending on your perspective is either impressive or slightly weird. I’ll go with the former.
13th over: South Africa 85-3 (van Niekerk 41, du Preez 21) South Africa continue to go down fighting. Van Niekerk wallops Ecclestone over midwicket for four
12th over: South Africa 77-3 (van Niekerk 35, du Preez 20) Jenny Gunn almost takes an astonishing catch! Van Niekerk blasted Hazell down the ground, where Gunn stretched to take a spectacular one-handed catch on the run. She knew her momentum was going to take her over the rope so she threw the ball up in the air, jumped off and then back onto the field of the play – only to drop a simple chance as the ball dropped into her hands.
11th over: South Africa 67-3 (van Niekerk 26, du Preez 19) England are next up for the double-header, with games against South Africa and New Zealand at Taunton on Saturday. The cricket balls in that second game are going to take one hell of a beating.
10th over: South Africa 61-3 (van Niekerk 25, du Preez 14) This is an admirable, defiant innings from the captain van Niekerk. Her team have had a miserable day but she is still batting with a lot of pride. She gets another boundary in that over, reverse sweeping Hazell nicely for four.
9th over: South Africa 54-3 (van Niekerk 20, du Preez 12) Van Niekerk swipes Nat Sciver for a huge six over midwicket to bring up the fifty. Sciver’s first over goes for 17 – and if South Africa can keep that rate up for last 11 overs… they’ll still lose the game.
8th over: South Africa 37-3 (van Niekerk 9, du Preez 6) The clever left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone comes into the attack and is swept firmly for four by Mignon du Preez. Van Niekerk makes it two boundaries in the over with a brusque slap through extra cover.
7th over: South Africa 28-3 (van Niekerk 5, du Preez 1) It’s been a day of record-breaking, and England are closing in on another big one: the largest margin of victory (by runs) in an IT20 match is 115 runs.
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WICKET! South Africa 26-3 (Brits run out 1)
Sophie Ecclestone makes up for her dropped catch with a terrific run out from mid-off. Brits played tip and run and was well short when Ecclestone’s throw broke the stumps.
6th over: South Africa 26-2 (Brits 1, van Niekerk 4) The South African captain van Niekerk, who is not exactly a personification of joie de vivre right now, clouts Brunt down the ground for four. Those are the only runs from the over, and this match is over.
5th over: South Africa 22-2 (Brits 1, van Niekerk 0) Shrubsole continues to swing the ball sharply back into the right-handed batters. All Brits can really do is survive, and Shrubsole’s figures are now 3-2-2-0. In the context of the day - 638 runs in 65 overs - they are astonishing.
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4th over: South Africa 22-2 (Brits 1, van Niekerk 0) South Africa need 229 from 16 overs at a required rate oh what’s the point.
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WICKET! South Africa 22-2 (Lee LBW b Hazell 19)
Dani Hazell strikes! Lizelle Lee smacked her for two fours and a six but Hazell had the last word with a quicker ball that beat Lee’s attempted sweep and trapped her plumb LBW.
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3rd over: South Africa 8-1 (Lee 5, Brits 1) Brits chips Shrubsole towards cover, where Ecclestone puts down another simple chance. It’s unlikely to cost them the game, but England will still be annoyed at dropping two sitters like that.
2nd over: South Africa 6-1 (Lee 4, Brits 0) Lee gets the first boundary, whapping Brunt round the corner for four.
WICKET! South Africa 2-1 (Wolvaardt c Gunn b Brunt 2)
Laura Wolvaardt chips Katherine Brunt’s second ball high towards mid-on, where Jenny Gunn drops a simple running catch. She gets an almost identical opportunity two balls later, and this time she takes it. This could get messy even messier for South Africa.
1st over: South Africa 0-0 (Lee 0, Wolvaardt 0) As if a target of 251 wasn’t hard enough for South Africa, Anya Shrubsole is getting some prodigious inswing. It’s as much as Lizelle Lee can do to survive, and the first over of the innings is the most unlikely maiden.
Tammy Beaumont speaks! “I had a bit of a minute yesterday with our batting coach with our assistant coach Ali Maiden saying I don’t start quickly enough in T20 cricket, so to get my first hundred is pretty pleasing! It’s always nice to start with Dani Wyatt; she starts so quickly that I can play myself in for a bit. We get on really well. It’s an incredible wicket here and I feel a bit sorry for the South African girls having to bowl twice in one day, but we all have that at some stage in this Tri-Series. The standard of women’s cricket is going through the roof.”
20th over: England 250-3 (Brunt 42, Knight 1) Heather Knight gets a single off the last ball of the innings to take England to the landmark score of 250. TWO HUNDRED AND BLOODY FIFTY! Poor South Africa have gone for 466 in 40 overs today, and you would expect England to cruise to victory. Dani Wyatt (56 from 36), Nat Sciver (33 from 15) and Katherine Brunt (42* from 16) all batted superbly, but Tammy Beaumont was again the star with a joyous 116 from 52 balls.
WICKET! England 249-3 (Sciver b Ismail 33)
Sciver goes to the penultimate ball of the innings. It was a unique dismissal - she stepped across to the off side and dragged a leg stump delivery back onto the stumps, before hitting her own wicket to make sure. She played a lovely cameo of 33 from 15 balls.
19th over: England 240-2 (Sciver 27, Brunt 39) Sciver lifts Klaas sweetly over extra cover for four, one of the classiest shots of the innings, and ends the over with a mighty slog sweep for six. This is staggering stuff.
ENGLAND BREAK THE WORLD RECORD FOR THE HIGHEST IT20 SCORE!
18th over: England 224-2 (Sciver 14, Brunt 37) A full toss from Lackay is muscled over long on for six by Brunt, which brings up England’s highest IT20 score. The record by any country is the 216 for one made by New Zealand earlier today – and England have demolished it with 14 balls to spare! I haven’t a clue what’s going off out there. Brunt smashes two more sixes, and would have had a third but for a great bit of fielding from Brits. Twenty five from the over!
17th over: England 199-2 (Sciver 14, Brunt 12) Brunt hits two boundaries off van Niekerk, both with the aid of misfields. South Africa have had a day of almost unprecedented misery: in 37 overs they’ve conceded 415 runs.
16th over: England 188-2 (Sciver 13, Brunt 2) The new batter Katherine Brunt slaps a high full toss to mid-off, where Klaas puts down a tricky running chance.
WICKET! England 185-2 (Beaumont ct and b Lackay 116)
Beaumont pulls Lackay for four, dissecting the two boundary fielders perfectly. Her placement has been immaculate, and her timing has been vaguely adequate too: she walks down the track to belt the next ball over midwicket for six. But she’s gone now! She toe-ends a moon ball straight back to Lackay, who takes a simple catch.
Beaumont is congratulated by the South African players and walks off with a huge smile. That was an astonishing innings: 116 from 52 balls with 18 fours and four sixes. She scored 108 from her last 40 balls.
15th over: England 175-1 (Beaumont 106, Sciver 12) If Beaumont bats 20 overs she will obliterate the record for the highest score in an IT20 match, Meg Lanning’s 126 against Ireland in 2014. One of the best things about watching Beaumont is the sheer sense of fun; she reminds us what the word ‘sport’ used to mean. At the other end, Sciver gets moving with consecutive edges for four.
“Re the need to do something to help bowlers (12th over), how about Duke and Kookaburra producing pre-scuffed balls?” says Smylers. “Bowling improves when the ball’s surface is altered, but it’s against the rules for players to perform significant alterations while playing — so why not simply issue them with balls that are good for bowling with? Each new ball comes with one shiny side and one rough one.”
I’m not sure about that – partly because I think would alter the balance too much, but also because it’s slightly dangerous territory. I don’t think it needs too much adjustment. Don’t forget it’s only a year since we had some thrilling low-scoring games in the Champions Trophy. I think they should prepare the flattest pitches imaginable until England have won the Men’s World Cup next year, and then worry about fairness.
TAMMY BEAUMONT MAKES A GLORIOUS HUNDRED!
14th over: England 159-1 (Beaumont 101, Sciver 1) Nat Sciver is promoted up the order to No3. Beaumont, meanwhile, moves to 97 with a mighty six over wide long-on that almost cleans up the Sky Sports commentary team in their little pod beside the boundary. A precise sweep for four brings up a stunning century, her third in consecutive innings for England. It’s taken only 47 balls, the second fastest in IT20 history. I’m not sure it’s possible to bat much better than she has today.
WICKET! England 148-1 (Wyatt c Ismail b Lackay 56)
Glory be, a wicket! Wyatt slog sweeps Lackay towards cow corner, where Ismail takes a calm catch. Wyatt played beautifully to make 56 from 36 balls.
13th over: England 147-0 (Wyatt 56, Beaumont 90) Beaumont dumps a full toss from van Niekerk for six before being dropped at long-on by Luus, though that’s a harsh description for what was essentially a brilliant bit of fielding. Luus took a stunning one-handed catch but had to release the ball because she was about to fall over the rope. She did, at least, save the six.
12th over: England 136-0 (Wyatt 55, Beaumont 80) Stacy Lackay is the latest to draw the short straw, and Wyatt works a single to bring up her fifty from 31 balls. She’s been overshadowed by Beaumont but it’s been a cracking innings. She’s been particularly good through and over extra cover, a point that is reinforced with another storming hit over the top for four. England need 81 from the last eight overs for the world record.
“Forgive me if I’m being stupid,” says Greg John, “but with all this talk of cricket being overbalanced in favour of bat over ball, shouldn’t we just get rid of fielding restrictions?”
I don’t if that would work, but I think they probably need to do something.
Eng batting astonishing yesterday against naive bowling. Bowlers need help though : ditch the dreadful Kookaburra, use a single Duke and encourage reverse swing .
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) June 20, 2018
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11th over: England 127-0 (Wyatt 47, Beaumont 80) Beaumont completes her wagon wheel by ramping Klaas for four, and follows up with a slog-sweep to the boundary next ball. I can’t keep up with this. Beaumont has scored 71 from her last 24 deliveries! Even a mishit reverse ramp into her own grille can’t wipe that familiar smile from her face.
10th over: England 116-0 (Wyatt 45, Beaumont 71) The legspinner Sune Luus comes into the attack, and England set about hitting her out of the attack. Wyatt makes room to blitz the second ball over extra cover for four and then Beaumont clouts a full toss back over the bowler’s head for four. That’s the 22nd four of this innings – and Beaumont ends the over with the first six, the sweetest of straight hits from a flighted legbreak. Is this even cricket we’re watching anymore? I don’t know what it is but I love it.
9th over: England 100-0 (Wyatt 40, Beaumont 60) Beaumont charges van Niekerk and lifts another jaunty boundary down the ground. A single brings up the century partnership from an absurd 8.5 overs.
“Evening Rob,” says Guy Hornsby. “I know yesterday was all sorts of ridiculous, (and part of me wishes I could’ve moved to Australia for 24 hours for the fun) but our women’s team is just as impressive, and destructive. We’ve got a pairing that’ll make Roy and YJB sit up from their isotonic drinks here.”
Beaumont in particular is fantastic, almost the complete batter. She could become the best in the world in the next 2-3 years. Mind you, there are a few people you can say that about in this golden age of batting.
8th over: England 92-0 (Wyatt 38, Beaumont 54) The young offspinner Raisibi Ntozakhe assumes the position. Beaumont skids back in her crease to pull heartily for four. The IT20 record of 216 for one, posted by New Zealand earlier today, will be under threat if these two carry on much longer. A beautiful shot from Beaumont, clipped wristily through midwicket on the run, takes her to 49, and a single brings up a majestic fifty from 27 balls – the fastest by an England player in IT20s, for the next few minutes at least.
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7th over: England 78-0 (Wyatt 37, Beaumont 41) The captain Dane van Niekerk comes on to bowl some spin. After a boundary drought of four deliveries, Wyatt clouts a slog sweep to cow corner. Nine from the over. Wyatt has 37 from 19 balls, Beaumont 41 from 23. They complement each other beautifully.
6th over: England 69-0 (Wyatt 31, Beaumont 38) Wyatt blasts Ismail high towards long on, where Klaas misjudges what would have been a very difficult catch even if she’d been able to lay hands on it. Which she didn’t. Beaumont then hits three consecutive boundaries, which makes it seven fours from her last eight deliveries!
If you include the New Zealand game earlier today, South Africa have conceded 285 for one in 26 overs. Asking them to bowl to the New Zealand and England batting line-ups on a Taunton belter on the same day is surely a human rights violation.
“I have nothing witty to say,” says Greg John, “but I’m with you.”
Wit, as experienced OBO-dwellers will tell you, is not compulsory round here.
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5th over: England 53-0 (Wyatt 28, Beaumont 25) Masabata Klaas comes into the attack, although with the way this innings is going it should probably be called the defence. Beaumont charges down the track, turning an attempted yorker into a low full toss and dumping it whence it came for four. She stays in her crease next ball but the result is the same, a perky clump down the ground for four. A sizzling slog-sweep and a clip through midwicket makes it four consecutive boundaries – and a fifty partnership in 4.5 overs. This is blistering stuff.
4th over: England 37-0 (Wyatt 28, Beaumont 9) Wyatt rides a short ball from Ismail, uppercutting for four with both feet off the ground, and drags another boundary just over the head of mid-on. She has 28 from 13 balls and is largely responsible for a terrific start by England.
Anyone out there? Eh?
3rd over: England 27-0 (Wyatt 19, Beaumont 8) Wyatt hits Kapp’s first two balls for four, with an uppercut followed by an emphatic thump between extra cover and mid-off. She dances down the track two balls later to ping another boundary through extra cover. Wyatt is off to her usual flyer: 19 not out from eight balls.
2nd over: England 14-0 (Wyatt 6, Beaumont 8) The brilliant Shabnim Ismail will share the new ball. The first ball pops from a length and is steered deftly through the vacant slip area for four by Beaumont, who comes into this match after back-to-back ODI centuries. A slightly unbecoming hack to leg brings two more, and then she survives a huge LBW appeal after playing around sharp inducker. That looked really close, though replays showed it was bouncing over leg stump. Six from an excellent Ismail over.
1st over: England 8-0 (Wyatt 6, Beaumont 2) Peep peep! Marizanne Kapp bowls the first over. England are opening with Dani Wyatt, who is so dangerous in this format and has blasted two centuries in the last six games IT20s. She gets going with a push into the covers that sneaks through for four. A few quick singles complete a good start for England.
The teams
England Beaumont, Wyatt, Jones, Taylor (wk), Sciver, Knight (c), Brunt, Gunn, Shrubsole, Hazell, Ecclestone.
South Africa Lee (wk), Wolvaardt, Brits, van Niekerk (c), du Preez, Lackay, Luus, Kapp, Ismail, Klass, Ntozakhe.
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England have won the toss and will bat first
#ShowUp for England Women!@ejrainfordbrent & @MarkButcher72 look ahead to Saturday's Vitality IT20 Tri-Series double-header & explain how you can get involved! @WomenSportTrust https://t.co/ORnXlDsUaK
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 20, 2018
Series begins now on Sky Sports Cricket with SAvNZ, then EngvSA from 5.30pm pic.twitter.com/zLGC5nB4Ex
Preamble
When you win a World Cup, it gives you a serious taste for more. I say this confidently even though I’ve never won a World Cup - not even on Brian Lara Cricket ’96, with a cheat code that allowed me All-Time World XI of Bradman, Sobers et al to face the UAE in every round. But everybody knows that glory is addictive; and in November, England will hope to complete their domination of the white-ball world by winning the World T20 in the Caribbean.
The build-up to that tournament starts with this Vitality IT20 Tri-Series involving New Zealand and South Africa. There’s an interesting format, with each team playing a double-header on different days: South Africa at Taunton today, England on the same ground on Saturday, and New Zealand at Bristol a week tomorrow. Each team plays four group games, with the top two going through to the final at Chelmsford.
New Zealand won the first match of the tournament, beating South Africa by 66 runs earlier this afternoon. They continued their preposterous recent batting form, posting a record score of 216 for one from their 20 overs. Suzie Bates crashed 124 for 66 balls and Sophie Devine made 73 from 48. Amelia Kerr didn’t even get a bat.
It means that South Africa are under severe pressure on day one of the competition, as defeat tonight would leave them struggling to make the final.
The match starts at 5.40pm, and we’ll have the toss soon.
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