Beaumont hails Farrant’s return as England cruise

England clinched an emphatic eight-wicket win in their first one-day international in 14 months, against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Seven bowlers shared the wickets as the hosts were all out for 178, with returning left-arm seamer Tash Farrant claiming two in her first ODI since 2013 and two years after losing her England contract.

“That was a massive statement from Tash,” said Tammy Beaumont, who hit 71 from 86 balls. “She’s been exceptional. She’s bowling really well and swinging it again, it’s great to see. She fully deserved to get her second ODI cap after a few years’ break and she showed why she’s on this tour and deserves to be here.”

Farrant’s wait for her international return has been mirrored in

England’s own patience during the Covid-19 pandemic. Yesterday marked their first 50-over match since December 2019.

After last February’s T20 World Cup – where rain prevented them from playing their semi-final clash – England have played just five days of cricket, all at home to the West Indies in a T20 series last summer.

This past year has not been ideal preparation for England’s World Cup defence – now 13 months away after hosts New Zealand were forced to push the tournament back to 2022. To return to longer-form cricket has been an adjustment, Beaumont admitted, citing their surprise loss in one of the warm-up fixtures last week.

“There was a lot of rust in those warm-up games, it’s been a long time since we played any longer-format cricket, so we really had to work hard in the nets and get back to that idea of batting long and not playing T20 cricket in a 50-over game.”

Showing such good form at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval was a good omen, Beaumont hoped, with the World Cup final scheduled there for April 2022. The second match of the ODI series is tomorrow.

Golf

Ten places in this year’s US Open will be up for grabs via a mini Order of Merit at three European Tour events. The top 10 aggregate point earners, who are not otherwise exempt, from the Betfred British Masters (May 12-15), Made in Himmerland presented by FREJA (May 27-30) and the Porsche European Open (June 3-6) will earn places in the US Open at Torrey Pines from June 17-20.

Tennis

Johanna Konta lost her first match since withdrawing from the Australian Open with an abdomen injury, going down 6-2, 6-2 to Shelby Rogers at the Adelaide International.

Cycling

Adam Yates moved up to second overall at the UAE Tour but Tadej Pogacar snatched victory on stage three to establish a 43-second lead over Yates.

Rugby Union

Worcester have signed England international scrum-half Willi Heinz, 34, from Gallagher Premiership rivals Gloucester.

Rugby League

Betfred Super League newcomers Leigh will play Hull KR in the 2021 Dacia Magic Weekend at Newcastle’s St James’ Park. Saturday, Sept 4 Castleford v Salford, St Helens v Catalans Dragons, Leeds v Hull FC. Sunday, Sept 5 Huddersfield v Wakefield, Wigan v Warrington, Leigh v Hull KR.