Haynes tries again, clearing the front leg and giving it everything, but she doesn’t hit it properly. Just as well for the Aussie skipper, as the ball falls short of long-on. Perry does the same in mirror-image, right-hander replacing left. Haynes realises the can’t find the gap straight, so goes a bit more across the line, and hits the gap at midwicket for four. There are two outfielders on that side of the stumps, but space between them. Ok, that’s the spot, says Haynes. Next ball, same direction, but longer and stronger. Six to the coastal side of the ground. What a knock from Haynes. 46 off 30.
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42nd over: Australia 218-3 (Perry 54, Haynes 35)
Ecclestone’s last over. Haynes tries the ramp again, but misses it. Then tries a pull, but plays over the top of it. Slight bottom edge, leaving Taylor no chance as it bashed into her thigh and slipped away between her legs. Enough cute stuff, says Haynes, and thumps a full ball over long-on for six. There’s a catcher back there, but she can only wave to the ball as it goes by. Wide outside off for the next ball, and Haynes stands up tall and plays it off the face behind point. Good over, 11 from it. 48 balls to come.
Coshed. Shrubsole bowls wide outside the southpaw’s off stump, and Haynes drives it for four. It was very full, she slammed it into the ground, but angled the bat just so, and like Rudyard Kipling’s stories, it worked. England have point and cover, but Haynes split them to the fence.
Haynes! She’s come out in a very different vein this game. Sees a shorter length from Brunt, doesn’t rush, waits back and drop-kicks the pull shot over backward square for four.
Sophie Ecclestone is back, with her left-arm tweak. Perry takes a single to cover. Haynes finds the field, then again. Ecclestone has landed the ball well today, really well. Just a couple of runs from the over.
Ohhh dear, another simple one for England. Another caught and bowled spurned. Another one that could hurt. This time it’s Brunt, and she’s dropping … Ellyse Perry. Nearing yet another 50. Perry smashed the drive straight at Brunt, it hit her high up on the hands, but she got both hands to it. Just too slow to respond. Brunt throws her head back in frustration.
Two balls later, Brunt drops short and Perry pounds the pull shot for four. Sheesh. Wipes a full ball across the line to fine leg for a single. Haynes caps off the over with a gorgeous square drive, threaded between the field for another four! Australia clambering on top.
Lovely stuff from Haynes. Left-hander, gets width from Gunn, and opens the face to glide it away through backward point for four. Next ball, it’s fuller but still wide, and she drives that away off the open face. It doesn’t have the speed to reach the fence, but she gets a couple. Then runs a single off the open face. I may have spoken too soon on the Haynes velocitator.
Pressure on Perry to make the running, given Haynes didn’t exactly fly along in her innings of 30 in the first ODI. Perry backs away from Hartley looking to make room, but Hartley follows her. Perry is able to scoop it over mid-on rather inelegantly, falling away, but gets enough on it to reach the rope.
I’ve said it before – Elyse Villani ain’t a top-order bat. At least not for Australia. Gets a wide ball, has a throw at it, but doesn’t get it cleanly. It rather loops up behind point, and that gives Heather Knight time to move to her left and dive, getting both hands to the ball. Great catch, but that ball shouldn’t have been in the air.
A good start for Australia, but still plenty of opportunity for England to drag them back with some tidy bowling. The prime slogger Elyse Villani is at the crease. Let’s see what happens.
Re the weather, I’m getting conflicting information, which is a first for Twitter. At the ground, there’s a bit of menace now in the air, and some cloud cover coming over.
She’s started opening up in the last few overs, but that was too open. Just after playing a legitimate switch-hit for a single, Bolton goes way outside her off stump, tries to thump one over the leg side, and loses her leg stump.
Bolton is fancying deep midwicket. Thuds Sciver in that direction for four, then tries again for two more. Sciver hits back by thudding a length ball into Bolton’s thigh, but the next shot makes contact for another single worked to the leg side.
Consider this Bolton making up ground. She steps into Anya Shrubsole and utterly lashes the straight drive back underneath the bowler and straight for four. Powerful shot. This after Perry had chipped a couple of lucky runs over midwicket, trying to bang Shrubsole down the ground. As India found out in the World Cup, she’s not the easiest to blast.
Sciver back to bowl, and Bolton brings up her fifty with two runs to third man. Taken her 90 balls to get there, she’ll want to make up a bit of ground in the back half.
A big no-ball to start Shrubsole’s over. Bolton gets a single, so Perry has strike. The field can therefore change. Everyone goes back in the positions straight down the ground. Shrubsole produces a beauty, nails into the pads. Perry glides a run next ball, then Bolton dashes a very quick single to mid-on, complete with a dive. Gets in. Very tidy from Shrubsole, considering the start.
Sydney Sixer! Perry sees one float up from Ecclestone, leans back a touch, and dumps it waaaay over midwicket onto the hill on the coastal side of the ground. That sailed over the rope, fence, and footpath. There’s a big banner out there saying #BeatEngland, which is the apparently inspiring slogan that CA marketing has devised, and Perry is trying to do that. She’s up at a run a ball.
“Bring me a shrubbery!” says Heather Knight, and lo, Shrubsole appears. No great threats, she’s worked around for five runs. Perry 19 off 24, outpacing Bolton easily on 45 off 83.
“Morning Geoff, from Europe,” emails Rooto. “Still early here, but I woke up and found that Alyssa Healy has been busy taking her opportunity to become the team’s new batting star. As a Brit, I find it difficult to warm to her, purely because her surname brings back too many unhappy memories. Have you met her? Can you help us out by telling us what a lovely person she actually is, deep down?”
What I can say for Alyssa Healy isthat she’s interesting and outspoken and funny. You get very used to boring cricketers saying nothing while using a lot of words to do so. She’s given her blunt views on things like the cricket pay dispute or Australia’s marriage equality vote, whether others would play it safe. Much was made of her “bring the bitch back” comments, but she was obviously having a laugh. So there’s a lot to like in that sense.
Whether she gets the first round of drinks in, or remembers to call on your birthday, I don’t know.
That’s ordinary from Hartley. Dropped a catch off her own bowling in Brisbane, and that turned out to be crucial. Here she fumbles a take from a hard Perry drive, and it gets through her hands for four. Straight down the ground.
It’s a hard one, isn’t it? You want to push your score out fast, but losing wickets will immediately retract it. We saw from South Africa in the men’s World Cup that scoring quickly doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be adequately rewarded. So wickets in hand are key.
Big shout from Ecclestone against Bolton. That looked pretty out, as she dropped to one knee to sweep. Maybe it just struck outside the line. Just. Maybe. Looked good though.
Finally the Ashes debutante gets through. Healy had already smacked a cover drive through the field for a couple of runs, then tried another that just may have been grassed by Nat Sciver at cover, or landed just in front of her. Those deliveries had flight. For the final ball of the over, coming around the wicket, Ecclestone angled one very fast and flat. Healy went back to cut, didn’t realise it was coming on quickly and straight, and her attempted cut shot was easily beaten, costing her off stump.
That’s a good stroke from Bolton at last. They always say, once you nail your first reverse sweep, you’ve got your eye in. Hartley have enough width, and the left-hander is quick to swap her bat around and send the ball fine. Seven off Hartley’s over, and 50 runs from the last six overs.
Great innings from Healy, she’s breathed life into this team knock. Brings up the fifty with a single through midwicket. Bolton gets an unconvincing boundary forcing through backward point. Ecclestone the bowler.
Left-arm spin twins: another double change as Alex Hartley comes on. She’s much smaller and neater than Ecclestone, an exercise in contrast within disciplines. Healy has had enough of waiting around though, and skips down to a well shaped delivery to smack it over cover. It barely clears the potential catcher, but does. That puts off Hartley, who bowls an absolute trash follow-up, short and flat and going down leg. Healy clubs that through backward square for four more.
Drinks, drinks, drinks. Sorry, that was just my interior monologue. The players are having some water as well. Now it’s time for an Ashes bowling debut for Sophie Ecclestone. A somewhat oxidised start for the tall left-armer, dropping a full toss on leg stump that a startled Healy can only dink away for a single to deep square. Better with the second ball! A huge appeal for caught behind as Bolton has a big drive.
That is an incredible take from Sarah Taylor. She’s moving towards the left-hander’s leg side, anticipating turn from the left-arm spinner. The ball goes straight, past the edge. Taylor sticks out her left hand, and for all money I thought she’d dropped that. But she snares it right in the tips of her fingers, the ball bulging out from the glove. She’s not concerned about dropping it though, or marvelling at her take – instead she’s straight into the appeal, raising that arm as though the take never happened. It all happened in one motion, she was almost appealing before she’d caught the ball.
It’s not a wicket, so it won’t make any highlight reels, but jeepers. She has to be the best wicketkeeper in the world, men’s or women’s.
A couple more false shots in the Ecclestone over, falling short of the field. Positive start for her.
Healy needs her breath back. Taps a single from Gunn to get off strike, but gets it back faster than she might have expected. Oh well, says she, guess I’ll try to slap another four over midwicket. But they’re harder to hit from Gunn. This one hangs in the air like an awkward silence, and Lauren Winfield is tracking around from deep square leg. The ball pitches and spins back sharply, meaning it could have dinked through Winfield for four, but she anticipated that magnificently and slapped down the ball as it tried to pass her. Only two runs, in the end. Another single to Healy, then a big appeal against Bolton ends the over. Not out.
Six! Finally Healy says it’s time to go. Length ball from Sciver, and the Aussie keeper drives through the line with elbow high, catches the downground breeze, and it carries the rope straight. Brings up Australia’s 50th run. Two balls later, Healy gets a similar delivery and goes squarer, flicking over midwicket for four. A brace towards midwicket as well, then it’s a juicy full toss and she slaps it dismissively the same direction for four more. Sciver has been rattled. A single to end the over, and it’s worth 17.
Sciver short and wide, and Bolton gets a streaky four. “Shot,” says the gentleman down the row from me, but that’s generous. The Hot Spot shows that wasn’t just the top edge, but also the toe. It clipped the upper corner of the horizontal blade as Bolton tried to cut. That was enough to take it through a fine third man.
This OBO is supposed to be about you, you know. Get me on Twitter at @GeoffLemonSport, or email [email protected], to give me your thoughts on this game, your stories of Coffs Harbour, your fear of supercell storms, whatever you want to share.
Jenny Gunn bowls yet another dry over. Two singles. So accurate. Whether there’s a bit of moisture under this wicket, meaning it’s hard to time, I don’t know. But really you think this pair should be ticking over more efficiently, at least as far as strike rotation. As soon as I think this, former England captain Charlotte Edwards says the same thing on ABC Radio. Vindication.
Some more very medium pace in another change. As Coldplay almost said, don’t you Natalie Sciver, Sciver, Sciver.
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It’s almost a good over, but she drops short twice. The first time, Bolton splats it away off the bottom edge for an awkward single. But Healy is striking more cleanly than that, and when she gets her chance at the end of the over, she swivels and clunks the pull shot to the fence at backward square. Healy is very small, so your margin for error on length is minimal.
Change in the bowling, Jenny Gunn is on. She’s one of those deceptive, Chris Harris type bowlers, usually slow but very hard to hit. Gunn does exactly what she aims to do, here – just bowls very straight, Australia can’t get her away, and the infielders at cover and mid-off get a workout stopping each shot. There’s only a Bolton single to deep square leg from the last ball. 17 off 36 for Bolton.
Brunt is coming around the wicket to Bolton, bat face coming from third slip and then straightening in the final twitch as the opener awaits. With that angle in, Brunt first nails Bolton’s front pad, but is told by Claire Polosak that the ball is going down leg. Then Brunt gets an inside edge into the pad that could have snuck through onto the stumps. She ends with a very wide full ball that draws an awkward drive. Only a single from the over. Bolton brought to you by S. T. Ruggle.
Bolton is struggling to get going here. A few more dots from Shrubsole, a wide, and finally Bolton flails at one and edges four through the slips. Some might call that a cut shot, but I’m not entirely sure it was intended or controlled. Takes a single thereafter. But there is English pressure building.
They’re running this single well, another quick one as Wilson dashed across to midwicket to slide and stop the ball, but Bolton ran with the stroke and so was through safely to the non-striker’s end. Healy drives nicely, on the rise through cover, and will get another two runs. Brunt is going red with the heat and effort, and looking even less impressed than usual. Comes back with an effort ball, back of a length and into the pads, and Healy can only shovel it to mid-on, not a timed stroke at all.
Some good ground fielding at mid-on, as Healy cracks the ball along the ground to Shrubsole but can’t get the drive through. Lovely shot for nada. Gets another single to cover, then Bolton plays cleverly, crouching low and reaching for a wide full ball to guide it through slips and down to third man. There’s a fielder in the deep, so only a single results.
Brunt continuing, and Healy plays tap-and-run into the covers for a single. Ah, the beauty of intimate grounds – there’s another ball too straight to Bolton, and you can clearly hear Brunt go “Awwww shit!” as she watches Bolton punch two runs through midwicket. Not exactly a dominant start from four overs, though, no need to despair.
Oh, yes. This pitch is playing really nicely. Bolton gets a full ball on the pads from Shrubsole and flicks it delightfully, away behind square. That’s the only score from the over.
Healy. First ball, four. Brunt bowls full, Healy cracks the cover drive. She has, I reckon, the best first 10 balls of any player in the world. Always hits them beautifully. And then usually gets out for a gorgeous 12 or a rollicking 16. Would love to see what she can do if she can break through that barrier. The pitch looks good in terms of pace coming through, though the outfield really does look lush. As well as Healy timed that drive, it was still slowing considerably by the rope. Healy shovels a couple more runs through midwicket.
Here we go. Shrubsole to start from the…. Giant Tree End? Wait, that’s both ends. Decent crowd in filling the pavilion, but the hills and grassy banks are for the brave, under the afternoon sun. Shrubsole starts full and straight, except for one delivery that slips wide, and Bolton the leftie is able to slap is through cover for two. The outfield looks pretty lush, it might take a bit of pace off some shots.
With that potential rain around, England want the vengeful gods of Duckworth and Lewis on their side. Team management will be burning a pile of pocket calculators in offering.
Adam is at 50-50 on his John Edward routine: Ecclestone will play for Marsh, while Gardner’s replacement is Kristen Beams.
Big news – Ashleigh Gardner is out. She sealed the game with the bat in Game 1, after taking another three wickets with the ball. She’s had a great run. But she also top-edged a sweep from Katherine Brunt into her helmet at one stage, and she now has mild concussion.
Adam Collins has been down at ground level reading the body language of the players in the warm-ups – he is the Cricket Whisperer. He says that Laura Marsh is not going to play for England, and Sophie Ecclestone will come into the side. For Australia, his replacement tip for Gardner is Lauren Cheatle. Gardner has been batting at eight, so Australia will need another bowler.
What ho, fox fanciers. Welcome to El Blog from a gorgeous, sunny, gentle Coffs Harbour. At least for now. The sun may be shining, the breeze may be playful, the surf may be so close that you can smell the salt. But there’s also a potential super-cell storm brewing over south-east Queensland, which may send some ancillary thunderstorms down to northern New South Wales later this afternoon, local time.
Why do they even bother playing cricket in this country, et cetera, et cetera.
Still – it’s AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND! The Ashes, the Smashes, the Forty Lashes. How good. Australia lead 2-0 in the points, and 1-0 on games. England need to catch up. The pitch looks like a belter, flat and white like Australia’s favourite coffee. It’s almost shining as I look at it, from the Coffs Harbour Wedding Marquee that is our press accommodation, up on stilts on the hill on the ground’s western side.
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Messy Jez
