Report
England close in on innings win as West Indies misfire again
Anderson, Atkinson and Stokes share six wickets after England build big lead
Matt Roller
11-Jul-2024
West Indies 79 for 6 (Athanaze 22, Anderson 2-11, Stokes 2-25) and 121 trail England 371 (Crawley 76, Smith 70, Root 68, Seales 4-77) by 171 runs
England need four more wickets to secure an innings win over West Indies inside three days, after James Anderson, Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes shared six wickets on the second evening. The hosts were dominant with the bat, scoring at more than four runs per over across their first innings and then turned the screw with the ball to close in on a 1-0 lead.
Needing to score 250 - more than double their first-innings total - just to make England bat again, West Indies slumped to 37 for 4 inside 19 overs. Anderson's inswinger knocked back Kraigg Brathwaite's middle stump, Stokes removed Mikyle Louis and Kirk McKenzie during a ten-over spell, and Kavem Hodge chopped Atkinson onto his own stumps.
Full postColes fires Sussex to maintain push for knockouts
Fours wickets and 46 from 33 underline young allrounder's importance
ECB Reporters Network
10-Jul-2024
Sussex 200 for 7 (Coles 46) beat Hampshire 178 (Coles 4-34) by 22 runs
Sussex Sharks made it seven wins out of ten in the Vitality Blast when they beat Hampshire by 22 runs at Hove. Hampshire have won just twice and will surely have to win all their remaining matches to make the quarter-finals.
Hampshire, chasing a target of 201, could not have got off to a worse start, losing two wickets in the first two overs. In the first, overseas batter Ben McDermott was run out after hitting Ollie Robinson to extra-cover and calling for a single. And in the next over Tom Prest lobbed James Coles to Tom Clark at mid-on.
Full postFreddie McCann falls just short of second century of England U19 summer
1st Youth Test with Sri Lanka headed for rain-affected draw at Wormsley
ECB Reporters Network
10-Jul-2024
Young Lions opener Freddie McCann fell just short of a second century of the summer against Sri Lanka U19s in the rain-affected first Men's Youth Test at Wormsley.
McCann was stumped on 92 after sharing a 160-run second-wicket partnership with Keshana Fonseka that ensured a strong response with the bat after Sri Lanka were all out for 324.
Sri Lanka U19s captain Dinuru Kalupahana had earlier reached his maiden international century with Surrey Academy quick Alex French the pick of the England U19s bowlers with 81 for four.
Full postKnott, Davies keep Vipers top of the pile
Stars slip to heavy defeat as Davies rips through old side's batting lineup
ECB Reporters Network
10-Jul-2024
Southern Vipers 121 for 3 (Knott 57*) beat South East Stars 120 (Davies 4-14) by seven wickets
Freya Davies' impeccable four-for set up Southern Vipers' no-nonsense seven-wicket bonus point victory over South East Stars to cement their place at the top of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy table.
Former Stars fast bowler Davies hadn't taken four in an innings since taking 4 for 23 in a T20 for England against New Zealand in March 2021, and last haul of four or more in 50-over cricket was a six-for for Sussex Women in 2018.
Full postHigham-Claridge stand keeps Storm rooted to foot of table
Bryce sisters also pivotal in Blaze win: Kathryn with ball, then Sarah with bat
ECB Reporters Network
10-Jul-2024
The Blaze 220 for 5 (Higham 62*, S Bryce 61) beat Western Storm 217 (Wilson 67, K Bryce 4-20) by five wickets
Lucy Higham and Ella Claridge staged a superb unbroken match-winning partnership of 105 in 22.3 overs to guide The Blaze to a five-wicket success over Western Storm in a hard-fought Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy contest at Cheltenham.
Pursuing a modest victory target of 218, the visitors made a great start to their chase, courtesy of a hard-hitting 61 in 54 balls from opener Sarah Bryce. But the outcome was in doubt when The Blaze slipped to 115 for 5, and they were ultimately indebted to their sixth-wicket pair, Higham and Claridge raising unbeaten knocks of 62 and 43 respectively to seal the win with 7.3 overs remaining.
Full postEmma Lamb, Katie Mack on the attack for Thunder after Tara Norris four-for
Eight-wicket victory over Central Sparks maintains slim hopes of qualification
ECB Reporters Network
10-Jul-2024
Thunder 147 for 2 (Lamb 71*, Mack 52*) beat Central Sparks 144 (Norris 4-18, Morris 3-31) by eight wickets
Thunder kept alive their slender hopes of Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy qualification with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Central Sparks at Worcester.
The win was set up by the excellent bowling of left-armers Tara Norris (four for 18) and Sophie Morris (three for 31) as Sparks were bowled out for 144 in 42.4 overs. Only captain Eve Jones (38 from 62 balls) threatened to play a match-shaping innings for the home side in an error-strewn team batting display.
Full postBeth Langston six-for leads Diamond rout of Sunrisers
Fast bowler marks return from injury in style to set up four-wicket win
ECB Reporters Network
10-Jul-2024
Northern Diamonds 111 for 6 (Burns 35*, Coppack 3-35) beat Sunrisers 109 (Langston 6-24) by four wickets
Six-time England fast bowler Beth Langston made a dream return from her injury nightmare with a stunning six for 24 as Northern Diamonds continued their march towards the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy semi-finals with an enthralling four-wicket win over Sunrisers at York.
Langston had - prior to this fixture - only played once for the Diamonds since the end of July 2022 and hadn't take a 50-over wicket since the previous September following a ruptured ACL (knee) and resulting complications.
Full postFielding makes the difference as India go 2-1 up against Zimbabwe
Madande and Myers script a fightback for Zimbabwe, but a top-order collapse had left them with too much to do
S Sudarshanan
10-Jul-2024
India 182 for 4 (Gill 66, Gaikwad 49, Jaiswal 36, Raza 2-24, Muzarabani 2-25) beat Zimbabwe 159 for 6 (Myers 65*, Madande 37, Washington 3-15, Avesh 2-39) by 23 runs
Shubman Gill played the classic anchor. Ruturaj Gaikwad the disruptor at No. 4. And Washington Sundar proved simple offspin can be sexy.
At the end of it all, India took a big step towards winning the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe with a 23-run win in the third match to take a 2-1 lead.
Full postAtkinson upstages Anderson with seven-for as England dominate
West Indies bowled out for 121 as England's debutant fast bowler takes 7 for 45
Matt Roller
10-Jul-2024
England 189 for 3 (Crawley 76, Pope 57) lead West Indies 121 (Atkinson 7-45) by 68 runs
They came for James Anderson, but they got Gus Atkinson. The first Test of England's summer at Lord's was meant to be a farewell for their greatest-ever seam bowler, but West Indies' batters rolled out the red carpet for a debutant instead: they collapsed from 88 for 3 to 121 all out, with Atkinson taking remarkable figures of 7 for 45.
Atkinson took two wickets in his first 14 balls on the first morning, but it was his second spell that sent West Indies into a tailspin. He took three wickets in four balls in his ninth over, ripping the heart out of West Indies' middle order, then took two in three during his 11th. His figures were the second-best by an England bowler on their Test debut, behind only Dominic Cork.
Anderson, playing his 188th and final Test, bowled nine wicketless overs before lunch and was brought back to take the final wicket of the innings, trapping Jayden Seales lbw to a loud ovation from the Lord's crowd. But it was Atkinson, the Surrey fast bowler, who led England off the field midway through a remarkable first day as a Test cricketer.
Full postBouchier, Capsey and Dean see England through in the wet
Hosts go 2-0 up in series after New Zealand fall short in severely rain-affected game
Valkerie Baynes
09-Jul-2024
England 89 for 6 (Capsey 28, Bouchier 23) beat New Zealand 42 for 5 (Halliday 14, Dean 2-3) by 23 runs (DLS method)
Alice Capsey and Maia Bouchier lifted England to an impressive total which proved more than enough when Charlie Dean ripped into a struggling New Zealand line-up to seal victory in a rain-affected second T20I in Hove.
Persistent rain delayed the start by two hours and cut the match to nine overs per side. Capsey's 28 off 15 balls and Bouchier's 23 off 15 set England up for a total of 89 for 6, then Dean took 2 for 3 in a single over as New Zealand crumbled to 42 for 5 in 6.4 overs before the rain returned to end the match even more prematurely than expected, the hosts taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series which moves to Canterbury on Thursday.
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