Tammy Beaumont recently passed a milestone that she never wanted: the 2nd ODI was her 100th consecutive match in the format. She is the first England player to have achieved this, and it is something that only two other players (Mignon du Preez and Mithali Raj) have done before. And yet it only happened because of something she didn’t want – her omission from the squad for the recent T20 World Cup in the UAE. If she had been selected, she would have missed the ODI series in Ireland in September, and been marooned on 95 consecutive appearances.
Beaumont has been out of favour in the T20 format for a while – she hasn’t played a T20 for England as part of their “first-choice” XI since 2022, though she did play the T20s in Ireland, plus 3 matches in New Zealand earlier this year when England were missing players at the WPL. Back in 2022 she was told to go away and improve her Strike Rate; and she did that, but to her disappointment she still couldn’t find a way back into the team.
So it is ironic that her latest match-winning ODI performance came in the shape of what was effectively a T20 innings – a knock of 65* off 46 balls, as England chased a DLS-adjusted target of 152 in 23 overs to win the ODI series v South Africa.
South Africa 233-8 v England 153-4 (T: 152) #SAvENG 🏏
— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2024-12-11T20:16:37.074Z
In a series in which both sides had traded shockers – England in the 1st ODI and South Africa in the 2nd – the South African innings earlier in the afternoon saw improved performances from both teams, but that is deliberately to damn with faint praise: South Africa batted “okay” to reach 233; England bowled “okay” to take 8 wickets. The South Africans would have been hoping for 50-odd more at a ground which is renowned for being batter-friendly; whilst England will be wondering why the couldn’t finish-off the South African tail having had them 7-down with 10 overs remaining.
Losing Kate Cross to injury in the first over of the day was obviously a blow for England, but the last 9 overs were all bowled by their front-line options, with Capsey having completed her complement in the 41st over, so they might have done better in that final phase. To be fair though, they did keep South Africa below par, which became even more significant with the rain delay which followed, which saw DLS ratchet-up the required run rate from 4.7 to 6.6 – almost 2 runs per over more. It was a fair adjustment – a required rate of 6.6 for 23 overs is the equivalent of chasing 132 in a T20, which feels about right – an “oaky” score if this had been a T20.
And thanks to T20 unspecialist Tammy Beaumont, England had it well within them, despite losing 3 wickets in the 5-over powerplay to the ever-deadly Marizanne Kapp.
South Africa 233-8 v England 153-4 (T: 152) #SAvENG 🏏
— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2024-12-11T20:17:08.090Z
With the powerplay done, Beaumont pressed on, playing positively but not recklessly. Hitting more into the ‘V’ than usual, she led a charge which pushed the run rate up beyond 8 an over in the post-powerplay phase, giving England the platform they needed to go on and win the game. A decent knock of 49* from Amy Jones at the other end took England over the line with a massive (in the context of a 23 over chase) 4 overs to spare.
England winning what was effectively a T20 chase, thanks to a player who isn’t even in their T20 squad, is perhaps not much to write home about, but it was nice to see someone actually step up on a tour which has seen more than its share of steps down, and give England fans something genuinely to cheer about.
