Key events
5th over: England 17-0 (Beaumont 9, Bouchier 6) Fatima again, the outfield very green, cut in diamond shapes. Another super stop from Diana Baig on the edge of the circle prevents a boundary. Just a couple from Fatima’s over – England haven’t hit free-flowing mode as yet.
4th over: England 15-0 (Beaumont 8, Bouchier 5) Diana throws a wide and five dots into the mix, Bouchier eyes up the fifth (legal) ball and ushes it through backward point – the fielders just beat it on the long journey down to the rope.
3rd over: England 11-0 (Beaumont 8, Bouchier 2) A first boundary, a typically Beaumontesque slam through the covers – to make her the leading scorer in women’s ODIs in England, going above Sarah Taylor.
2nd over: England 6-0 (Beaumont 4, Bouchier 1) Diana Baig with the second over – such a lovely, easy run-up. It turns out she has also played football for Pakistan. Beaumont drives nicely, but the ball is cut off by the fielder’s knee.
If you’re watching, from home or under 25 rugs in Derby, do drop me a line with your thoughts.
1st over: England 2-0 (Beaumont 1, Bouchier 0) Fatima Sana takes the new ball, the faint sheen of suncream over her cheeks. A loosener to start with, then on the money, a wide and a single.
Great to see Maia Bouchier standing up for the climate by joining EcoAthletes.
Nida Dar has her arms firmly folded and looks as if she’s wearing three layers under her green jersey. Tammy Beaumont and Maia Bouchier stride on in England’s turquoise ODI shirts. Tammy short and tucked in, Maia tall and tucked out.
Pakistan XI
Pakistan: Sidra Ameen, Sadaf Shamas, Muneeba Ali, Ayesha Zafar, Nida Dar (c), Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Najiha Alvi (wk), Umm-e-Hani, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu
England XI
England Maia Bouchier, Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight (c), Nat Scivr-Brunt, Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wk), Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Kate Cross, Lauren Bell.
Pitch watch
“The amount of rain we had last night – it was underwater,” says Dominic Cork.He disagrees with Nida Dar’s assessment of the pitch – says there will be some carry. Says he has been watching the Pakistani bowlers in practise, and they are bowling too full.
Floodlights, screaming cross wind.
Weather watch
It looks absolutely freezing. Puffa jackets not suncream. A brisk, brisk, wind. 12 degrees.
Pakistan win the toss and will bowl!
“It looks like a slower wicket and outfield,” says Nida Dar. “We take a lot of positives from the T20 series, play to our strengths and Inshallah things will go well. It is very important for us [to win] for qualifying [for the 2025 World Cup] to try and win.”
Heather Knight says she’d have bowled as well. England are holding on to their three spin attack, alongside Kate Cross and Lauren Bell. NSB still not bowling as she recovers from her
Preamble
Hello! As the T20 series rolls out, so the one-day series rolls in – a three match extravaganza held at Derby, Taunton and Chelmsford. England are clear favourites – Heather Knight hoping England can continue to win “ruthlessly” – after their 3-0 whitewash in the shorter form . Pakistan, though, improved through the T20 series, and if only they’d been able to hold onto their catches in that third game, things might have been a lot more interesting.
England didn’t play a huge amount of ODI cricket last year, but won the series they did play, as they did in New Zealand in the spring. Tammy Beaumont and Kate Cross join the squad for the 50-over games, bringing their vast experience and skill set. The toss follows shortly, play starts at 1pm.