With the prospect of bad weather around, and the perceived better place to be in such a scenario being the team batting second, England won the toss in Coffs Harbour yesterday and inserted the Australians on what appeared to be a belting pitch. Now, I think we all know exactly what I think about sending the opposition in when winning the toss, and the fact that the subsequent rain did indeed come didn’t change the fact that Australia had been given the chance to post such a daunting target first up, and that it was that decision at the toss that gave the Australians the advantage that led to them winning the second ODI in this Women’s Ashes series.
The Australians paced their innings terrifically well. All credit goes to Alyssa Healy whose run-a-ball 56 at the top of the order set the pace up nicely. Nicole Bolton’s 66 was more circumspect, but along with Ellyse Perry they kept the run rate at around five runs an over, and when both Bolton and Villani departed around the 34 over mark, the launching pad had been set if someone was good enough to take the opportunity.
Enter Australian captain Rachael Haynes.
On Sunday, Haynes had scrapped well, but it looked like a struggle all of the way through. Her 30 came from 56 deliveries, an important contribution, but her demise had allowed Ash Gardner to enter and get the team home.
But not today. From the outset she was positive, firm, pulling out all of the trick shots she is renowned for. The flicks, the ramps, they all came into play. But not only that – she was belligerent. Balls in her zone began disappearing to and over the boundary rope, and it didn’t matter if it was full or short, they kept going. Her pull and cut shots were just as effective as her drives and ramps. It was fascinating stuff.
At the other end, Perry had added yet another half century to her portfolio, finishing with 67 from 75 balls when she was stumped trying to up the ante in the final overs. But she was overshadowed by Haynes, whose fifty came off 36 deliveries, and she just kept raising the bar. By the end of the fifty overs her time to register one of the most amazing centuries ever in Australian cricket had passed, but she finished on 89 not out off just 56 deliveries, and had promoted Australia’s total to an imposing 6/296, and a tough (one would say almost impossible) chase beckoned for England.
England’s reply got off to the worst start possible. The loss of Winfield LBW to the third ball was then exacerbated when the rain came again, which cut their overs to be received by four, but the target lost only 11 runs, being reverted to 285. Then Megan Schutt struck again, removing Beaumont, and at 2/20 off five overs it was going to be a long haul.
In the same way that sometimes the laws of cricket are overruled by people wanting the unwritten and unenforceable “spirit of the game” to take precedence, so too sometimes is common sense unable to be used as it too can be unenforceable over the laws of the game. In her third over, with a new and very slippery white ball in her hand thanks to the downpour that the players had just returned from, Ellyse Perry bowled consecutive full deliveries above the waist of the striker, and as a result was removed from the bowling crease for the remainder of the match, which handed England a massive advantage against their opponent. Now the problem that comes from this is that, to be honest, neither of the deliveries was what could be classed as ‘dangerous’, and neither was deliberate. Neither were good old fashioned ‘bean balls’, aimed at the batsmen with deliberate intent to cause a false shot or out-and-out intimidation. Both deliveries slipped, the first so far over the striker’s head it would have been a wide if not for the no ball call, and the second comfortably wide of off stump such that the striker played it over slips to third man. And yet, according to the laws as they are now written, that was enough to have the bowler removed for the rest of the innings. Surely common sense would have come in, and at least forgiven the first slip. By all means, call it a no ball, but given that everyone realised that it had slipped out due to the conditions and that it was not at the striker in any way, let it go in regards to a warning. And certainly, once the next delivery did the same thing, but much closer to the striker, call it a no ball, and give the bowler a first warning. It would have been a much fairer assessment of the situation, but with the umpire tied to the laws of the game, one that wasn’t afforded. Yet, it seems that any time someone is ‘mankaded’ which is in the laws of the game, the umpires always ask the captain of the fielding team if they want to go ahead with the appeal before actually giving it out. Ridiculous – both ways.
Fortunately Australia has plenty of bowling options, and the varied attack kept snaring wickets when needed as the required run rate rose. It was great to see the twin attack of the young leg spinners Wellington and Beams as well as the left arm finger spin of Jonassen, tying up the English bats and giving away nothing loose. Between them they took five wickets and conceded less than 6 runs an over in conditions that are the worst possible for spin bowlers. All three were terrific in their roles. Up the front the spearhead Megan Schutt was superb, adding to her two early wickets with another two in the later overs, and finishing with 4/26 from 8 overs, a wonderful effort that led Australia to victory by 75 runs under the D/L Method.
With a 2-0 lead early in this series, the third and final ODI on Sunday at the same venue now becomes a vital component for the outcome of the series. If Australia managed to win it would hold six points going into the Test at North Sydney Oval, and would be holding all the cards. England however aren’t that far away, and if they win on Sunday the series is still anyone’s. More importantly if the cricket remains as captivating as it has been in the first two games, we will still have some terrific action ahead of us.
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