ENGLAND v IRELAND: 2nd ODI – Tim Tam Slam

A record 10th ODI hundred from Tammy Beaumont, pulling her clear of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Charlotte Edwards at the head of the all-time list of England centurions, drove England to a massive 320 as they crushed Ireland in the 2nd ODI in Belfast.

England 320-8 v Ireland #IREvENG

— CRICKETher (@crickether.bsky.social) 2024-09-09T13:04:48.660Z

Beaumont carried her bat for 150 not out – the second highest ODI score of her career – hitting the last 50 of those runs at a Strike Rate of over 200, as England piled on the pain in the last 10 overs, which went for 99.

England 320-8 v Ireland #IREvENG

— CRICKETher (@crickether.bsky.social) 2024-09-09T13:05:12.932Z

By the 10 over mark in Ireland’s reply they had collapsed to 24-6 – the DLS par score at that stage, a whopping 221, with the only remaining doubt being whether we’d make it to the requisite 20 overs to constitute a game. At one point with about 8 overs bowled, the skies blackened and there was a scurry to rescue laptops and notepads from the front row of the press gazebo as a flurry of rain blew in; but in the end it was academic: Ireland beat the rain, bowled out within 17 overs for 45 – their lowest ever total in ODIs.

Other open question at 10 overs: would today’s debutante, Georgia Davis, even get a bowl, given how fast the game was slipping away from Ireland? But she did get her hands on the ball, and did take her first wicket, bowling Alice Tector, to whoops and cheers from the posse of Sparks players, led by Abbey Freeborn, who had made the trip over to Belfast to support her. The grin on her face as she made her way back to fine leg in front of her mates at the end of that over, was perhaps the most delightful thing I saw all day – Irish eyes might not have been smiling, but Davis ones were!

Davis then added the final wicket to her haul to finish with 2-19, with Freya Kemp also taking a brace, though the latter looked far from convincing with the ball. Kemp did however blast a rapid 65 off 47 balls with the bat – a welcome return to form after a dismal Hundred averaging just 7 at a Strike Rate of 89. She did have one enormous slice of luck today – if there had been umpire reviews, she would almost certainly have been run out early-doors; and her batting remains a tad one-dimensional. Her big shot is the slog-sweep over midwicket, which bought her half her boundary runs today – and you’d think an Australia or an India would bowl better lines to her to cut off that option, or at least put a fielder out there on the midwicket boundary. But you can only play the balls you are bowled, and Kemp was entitled to take full advantage as she did.

Another player who looked better than she has done recently was Lauren Filer, who bowled with the aggression of a woman with a point to prove after being left out of the World Cup squad. She was a little bit all-over-the-place in the first ODI on Saturday, but today she found some extra nip in what were definitely “nippy” conditions, and the Irish batters looked terrified. Filer finished with 3 wickets, but it could easily have been 5 or 6, and if she can work out how to bottle-up the way she bowled today and bring it to every game, there will be more World Cups in the future for sure.

Despite the record bowling performance though, the day belonged to Tammy Beaumont. The first time I saw her play an innings which offered a hint of what was to come was a battling innings for Kent, opening the batting with Charlotte Edwards, whose 9 ODI hundreds Beaumont pulled clear over today. Her trademark shot back then was a punched drive down the ground through mid off; but of today’s 150 runs, not a single one came in that area – instead it was the pulls through midwicket that she worked hardest, as well as running hard between the sticks, putting the teenagers on the field to shame with her pace over 22 yards.

What was the same as that early innings for Kent was the ability to dig in and fight – it wasn’t easy going early on, and she didn’t really find a groove until those final few overs; but it shows real temperament to not force the runs when they aren’t quite coming, and then to explode into life when they are. In the fifteenth year of her international career, having batted at almost every position in the lineup (in her ODI debut, she came in at 10!), Tammy Beaumont has seen it all. But more importantly, she has now done it all – she’ll be remembered as one of the greats, and we’ll miss her when she goes.