Beaumont displays hot form after Games blow
LIGHTNING BATTER HITS CENTURY TO HELP ENGLAND BEAT SOUTH AFRICA IN ODI AT LEICESTER
TAMMY Beaumont said she felt really good out in the middle as she bounced back from being left out of the Commonwealth Games squad with a stunning century as England beat South Africa by 109 runs, writes Sonia Twigg of PA Sport.
On the hottest day of the year so far at Leicester, the batter with Loughborough-based Lightning struck 119 as England took an 8-2 series lead with victory in the third one-day international.
Beaumont’s innings formed a crucial part of England’s 371 for seven – their fifth-highest one-day international total – which proved too much for the Proteas, despite a spirited 70 from Chloe Tryon.
Kent-born batter Beaumont hit her ninth ODI century after being left out of England’s squad for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
However, Beaumont insisted she was not thinking about the decision while out in the middle.
“I was obviously pretty gutted when I found out about a week ago, but it was just a case of trying to find a way to get myself in the best headspace to play the last couple of games,” she said.
“I think it was probably right at the very back of my mind but you don’t score runs thinking about anything other than the ball or one ball at a time as one of my trusted friends told me a couple of days ago.
“You’ve got to go one ball at a time if you’re going to get anywhere, so it wasn’t really front and centre.”
Beaumont formed a crucial part of a 149-run opening stand alongside Emma Lamb despite the heat and enjoyed her innings.
“It felt really good. I always enjoy coming to Leicester” said Beaumont.
“I felt like it was a good batting wicket so once we got in it was just a case of – even though it was really hot and not fun to run a lot of twos – just get on with it and focus as much as possible,” she said.
“It was good to get out there.” Beaumont added: “I think we obviously wanted to bat first, trying to get the opposition out in the heat, but I think it did actually do a little bit more in the first innings – for the first 10 or 15 overs.
“So I guess if they’d got us a few wickets down that would have been a good shout with that one but I was happy to be batting first.”