England proved themselves the world’s best cricketing nation once again. They went on to beat West Indies by 143 runs in the second One-Day International (ODI) to be hosted at Leicester. The win put England 2-0 up in the three match series. In a mass of exceptional individual performances, signing Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont both hit centuries and stole the show in this match.
The game went on to being one of the greatest matches in ODI cricket, with England posting a mammoth 366 runs batting first. Amy Jones was in blistering form, and her extraordinary innings of 129 from 98 balls set the tone. Washington’s performance can’t be overstated, particularly her recovery after being dropped on 43. Well, she took advantage of that opportunity and posted some super consistent scores. Tammy Beaumont played a major supporting role to England’s captain, bringing up her own century in the process with 106 runs off 106 balls. Together, they were an unstoppable duo, putting on a powerful 202 runs in only 29.2 overs.
As might’ve been expected after their successful collaboration in the series opener, Jones and Beaumont repeated their winning reunion. As a partnership, they’d built an extraordinary 222 runs together in that game. Their consistent performances highlight the strength of England’s batting lineup. Emma Lamb starred with the bat, scoring 55 runs and making a huge impact on the match. Along the way, Sophia Dunkley blasted an impressive 31 off only 19 deliveries, indicating the strength of the English batting lineup.
In terms of pace, Jones’s century was particularly impressive as it came off just 76 balls, marking it as England’s joint-third fastest century in women’s ODIs. Beaumont racked up half a century in only 64 deliveries. She started to up the ante and brought up her hundred with a huge six that went over long-on.
With all of England’s batting records broken, it’s easy to forget that their bowling attack was scattered in the course of the match. While Alice Capsey excelled by taking three wickets for 41 runs, Linsey Smith and Lauren Filer claimed two wickets each. England had problems keeping up the squeeze through the mid-innings. They failed to make any real inroads into the strength of the West Indies’ batting order.
Karishma Ramharack played for the West Indies, removing both openers in Jones and Beaumont to give her side a fighting chance. Her performance would not be enough to shift the tide under an onslaught of visitors. England’s bowlers did well both in this game and throughout the tournament. Their inability to bowl the West Indies out saw them waste a golden opportunity, such was their dominance across the piece.
After the match, Amy Jones reflected on her performance alongside Beaumont:
“It’s quite funny how it’s worked out, after a good number of games. I loved today, it’s been cool to be in a big partnership with Tammy Beaumont.”
“That’s the main thing,” said West Indies captain Shai Hope after a visibly disappointed side lamented their bowling display. A player commented on their struggles during the game:
“Going into it, we wanted to bowl into good areas. We struggled to do that and unfortunately it didn’t go the way that we wanted.”
Pastures new
Ahead of their next matches, England’s newest opening pair and number three batsman Emma Lamb will look to make even bigger impacts against stiffer opposition. How well they can hold that form against tougher competition will be the key as this series moves along.
Alex Hartley highlighted the evolving dynamics within the England squad, stating:
“It’s refreshing to see that the future is bright and that there is competition for the spots. There was a time when you knew who was going to be playing every game. Now, it could change every time.”
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