England ended Day 2 on 218-2, with Tammy Beaumont not out on 100 and Nat Sciver-Brunt on 41*. They still trail Australia by 255 runs.
Annabel Sutherland scores her first Test century
Sutherland looked in superb touch on the first evening, and she came out to bat on Friday with that confidence. Sutherland mixed caution with aggression and reached her first Test century. Her 137 not out took Australia to a commanding position in their first innings. Sutherland showed a lot of maturity in the way she batted with the lower order. She reached her century in 148 balls, the fastest Test hundred by an Australian woman. Sutherland’s 137 not out is also the highest score by a batter at No. 8 or lower in a Women’s Test.
Australia’s lower order put England under pressure
Australia found themselves at 238 for 6 in the final session on Day 1 with Gardner-Sutherland being the last recognised pair, but their lower order stepped up. Sutherland and Alana King got 47 runs together, and then Sutherland and Kim Garth put on 95 runs together. Australia added 235 runs for the last four wickets and they took their first innings total on a flat pitch to close to 500.
Sophie Ecclestone picks up her first five-wicket haul
Ecclestone did the bulk of the bowling in the Australian innings with 46.2 overs, while no other bowler sent down even 30 overs. Ecclestone kept applying pressure even though Sutherland and King, and then Garth, were playing superbly. She had picked up the wickets of Tahlia McGrath, Jess Jonassen and Alyssa Healy on Day 1, and added the wickets of Garth and Darcie Brown today to take her first five-wicket haul in Tests.
Tammy Beaumont continues fine form with century
Beaumont came into this match on the back of scoring a double-century in the warm-up game. She continued that form and took full advantage of the fact that the Australian bowlers found it difficult to get any rhythm. Beaumont became the second woman after Heather Knight, the England captain, to score a century in all three formats. Beaumont will need to continue the way she is batting because England are still a long way behind Australia’s first innings total.
Knight shines
Knight scored a fine 50 to stitch together a 115-run partnership with Beaumont for the second wicket. Knight looked in sublime touch as she rotated the strike and took advantage of all the bad deliveries that the Australian bowlers gifted her.