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Dinner
58th over: England 142-7 (Sciver-Brunt 51, MacDonald-Gay 4) MacDonald-Gay defends solidly to see out the last over of the session from Gardner. It was Australia’s session and no mistake: 32 overs, 78 runs, four wickets. Three of them fell to the magician, Alana King, who bowled delightfully throughout. Nat Sciver-Brunt’s unbeaten 51 just about kept England afloat.
57th over: England 141-7 (Sciver-Brunt 50, MacDonald-Gay 4) Australia appeal unsuccessfully for caught behind when MacDonald-Gay swishes at King. MacDonald-Gay looks slightly shifty but Australia decided not to review. She definitely edges the next ball, with Mooney dropping a tough chance up to the stumps.
It’s a pleasure to watch King when she’s bowling this; her figures are 16-4-37-3.
Fifty for Sciver-Brunt
56th over: England 141-7 (Sciver-Brunt 50, MacDonald-Gay 4) Sciver-Brunt turns Gardner for a single to reach her half-century from 121 balls. You can’t keep a good goat down. It’s been a subdued innings, played with a kind of solemn defiance; England would be in an even bigger heap withtout it.
MacDonald-Gay, who has started her innings pretty well in the circumstances, drags Gardner past leg stump for three.
55th over: England 137-7 (Sciver-Brunt 49, MacDonald-Gay 1) Sciver-Brunt, who has little choice but to attack now, slog-sweeps King just short of the fielder at backward square. She takes the single even though it’s only the second ball of the over; you’d expect her to farm the strike if she’s still there when England are eight and nine down.
54th over: England 136-7 (Sciver-Brunt 48, MacDonald-Gay 1) A maiden from Gardner to MacDonald-Gay.
53rd over: England 136-7 (Sciver-Brunt 48, MacDonald-Gay 1) Ryana MacDonald-Gay, a 20-year-old playing only her second Test, is the new batter. She gets off the mark with a single on the leg side. Sciver-Brunt waves a stylish boundary through extra cover.
WICKET! England 131-7 (Ecclestone c Garth b King 1)
That didn’t take long. Ecclestone drives King straight to short cover, where Garth takes a simple catch. King, who is bowling quite beautifully, needs two more wickets for her maiden Test five-for.
In the men’s Test, Australia have gone past 500 and Josh Inglis is into the sixties on debut. You can follow that with Angus Fontaine.
52nd over: England 131-6 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Ecclestone 1) Sophie Ecclestone might as well give it a lash. England’s best chance of getting back in the game is to bowl with the new ball under the lights, especially as they’ve picked three frontline seamers. But right now Australia look far too good.
WICKET! England 130-6 (Jones b Gardner 3)
So much for Gardner not being as threatening as King! She has bowled Amy Jones with a nice delivery that skidded on to hit the off stump. Jones was back when she should have been forward and played defensively down the wrong line.
51st over: England 130-5 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Jones 3) A maiden from King to Sciver-Brunt, whose main focus right now is survival.
50th over: England 130-5 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Jones 3) Gardner hasn’t threatened as much as King, even though she’s getting plenty of turn from outside off stump. Two from the over.
49th over: England 128-5 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Jones 1) Australia are one wicket away from the bowlers and two from a pretty long tail.
A note from Cricket Australia on Ellyse Perry
Ellyse Perry landed awkwardly on her hip while diving in the field and will continue to be assessed. She’s not expected to come back on the field this session.
WICKET! England 127-5 (Wyatt-Hodge c Litchfield b King 22)
It was a matter of time. Wyatt-Hodge tries to turn King to leg and gets a leading edge to the right of Litchfield at silly point. She swoops to take a brilliant low catch. King has 2 for 30 and could well clean up in the next hour.
48th over: England 125-4 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Wyatt-Hodge 20) Wyatt-Hodge skips down the track to dump Gardner back over her head for a one-bounce four. She made 2 from the first 22 balls and 18 from the next 20.
The commentary team think Healy was standing too tall at slip, which is why her hands were going down with such momentum when she took that catch.
47th over: England 120-4 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Wyatt-Hodge 15) That was the last ball of the over. I can’t tell you how well Alan King is bowling.
Sciver-Brunt is not out! It was another gorgeous legspinner that took the edge as Sciver-Brunt pushed forward defensively. Healy stooped to take the catch but her momentum took her hands down and onto the turf. The issue is whether she had her fingers under the ball. The replays aren’t conclusive but suggest she probably didn’t, so Sciver-Brunt survives, for now.
46.6 overs: England 120-4 (Sciver-Brunt 44, Wyatt-Hodge 15) A rare bad ball from King is swept round the corner for four by Sciver-Brunt. She’s beaten by the next ball, another seductively flighted leg-break. This isn’t cricket, it’s artistry – and King may have got her reward. Sciver-Brunt edges to slip but Healy isn’t sure whether it carried.
46th over: England 116-4 (Sciver-Brunt 40, Wyatt-Hodge 15) Wyatt-Hodge tries to pull Gardner and drags the ball behind square for four. She did quite well in the end because the ball kept low. There’s another unsuccessful LBW appeal against Wyatt-Hodge when she pushes around a textbook off-break; that looked closer than the last but Australia decide not to review. It was definitely pad first and in line, though it may well have been bouncing over and/or going down.
45th over: England 112-4 (Sciver-Brunt 40, Wyatt-Hodge 11) Sciver-Brunt sweeps a single, which allows King another crack at Wyatt-Hodge. She has a slip, gully and silly point in place.
Wyatt-Hodge premeditates a lap over her shoulder for two runs, almost chips a return catch and then takes a single into the covers. It feels like a matter of time before King gets Wyatt-Hodge. She is bowling exquisitely and ends the over with a slower, loopy legbreak that beats Sciver-Brunt all ends up.
“Morning Rob, morning everyone,” says Guy Hornsby. “A feast of Test cricket this freezing morning. Australia grinding Sri Lanka in Galle and this consumate performance at the MCG today. England are fighting the good fight here but watching the last half hour of Alana King with the ball on a string. Dunkley will kick herself with her last shot, and Danny Wyatt-Hodge was completely pinned down with almost no out shot on the off side and the ball fizzing past her stumps. She truly is a brilliant leg spin bowler. Warne would’ve loved this.”
That would have made a great TV feature: King and the king chatting legspin for half an hour.
44th over: England 108-4 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Wyatt-Hodge 8) The last ball of the over is defended solidly. Wyatt-Hodge will be relieved that she isn’t at King’s end.
Wyatt-Hodge is not out! Nope, my first judgement was the correct one: outside the line, not out, Australia lose a review. They still have two left.
43.5 overs: England 108-4 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Wyatt-Hodge 8) Thanks Martin, hello everyone. It’ll be spin at both ends, with Ash Gardner replacing Annabel Sutherland. Her first ball is too full and driven stylishly to the cover boundary by Wyatt-Hodge. That’s really good batting – she has struggled so much against King that it would be easy to think only of survival and miss out on a four-ball at the other end.
Gardner drops short later in the over and is cut for two. There are a couple of LBW appeals as well but on both occasions Wyatt-Hodge got outside the line. Hang on, Healy has reviewed the second one. This is closer than I realised.
Martin Pegan
43rd over: England 102-4 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Wyatt-Hodge 2) A cracking over from Alana King has Wyatt-Hodge in all sorts. The England batter does well not to nick the first delivery as it straightens up, then has little idea of the next as King gets a touch too much turn to find an edge. Wyatt-Hodge picks up a single through cover off the last ball but she was really hanging on there.
That’s drinks and also time for me to hand over to Rob Smyth for the second half of the opening day of this historic MCG Test. I’ll be back with you tomorrow, so until then, enjoy …
42nd over: England 101-4 (Sciver-Brunt 39, Wyatt-Hodge 1) England bring up their 100 for the loss of four wickets and might be pleased not to have lost one or two more as a few chances have dropped painfully close to Australia fielders. With this experienced pair still at the crease they should like their chances of posting a competitive first-innings total but the margins are thin with a pretty lengthy tail.
41st over: England 99-4 (Sciver-Brunt 37, Wyatt-Hodge 1) King has Wyatt-Hodge playing but is unable to lure the England batter into much more than a couple of half-hearted drives. Maiden over.
40th over: England 99-4 (Sciver-Brunt 37, Wyatt-Hodge 1) Another near-miss behind the stumps for Australia as Wyatt-Hodge cuts and very nearly picks out one of the two gullies. Australia are going in for the kill as they have several fielders in catching positions on the off-side but Wyatt-Hodge is able to get off the mark with a dab to the leg side.
WICKET! Dunkley c&b King 21 (England 97-4)
Alana King breaks up the partnership for her first of the day as a slightly overpitched delivery perhaps surprises Dunkley and the batter lofts a timid drive straight back to the leg-spinner. King grasps the ball to her chest and Dunkley takes some time to leave the field as the umpire’s going searching for a bump ball that was always in the air. A 50-run stand ends for England and they will have to rebuild once more.
39th over: England 97-4 (Sciver-Brunt 36, Wyatt-Hodge 0) A wicket maiden for King as Danni Wyatt-Hodge is content to see out the over.
38th over: England 97-3 (Sciver-Brunt 36, Dunkley 21) Annabel Sutherland comes back into the attack and immediately has Sciver-Brunt mis-timing a pair of drives. Sciver-Brunt pulls a shorter delivery for a single and Dunkley plays a tidier drive for the same result.
37th over: England 95-3 (Sciver-Brunt 35, Dunkley 20) King continues with Sciver-Brunt immediately finding a single wtih a controlled cut to deep point. Dunkley steps down to reach a half volley, mis-times the shot but picks up two at fine leg. The England batter has been far from convincing since the break but perhaps the dam wall has broken as she clobbers a boundary to deep backward point.
36th over: England 88-3 (Sciver-Brunt 34, Dunkley 16) Brown changes tack as she pitches up to Sciver-Brunt but can’t qutie find a way through. Sciver-Brunt whips off her pads for three as Perry chases the ball down inside the rope. Dunkley has been bogged down since the break but gets some respite in the best possible way with an inside edge the reaches the fine leg boundary.
35th over: England 81-3 (Sciver-Brunt 31, Dunkley 12) King hasn’t troubled the England batters as much as she did early in the series even as the leg-spinner gives the ball plenty of flight and has it drifting across the right-handers. Sciver-Brunt picks a fuller delivery to find two on the leg-side then adds a single in the same area.
34th over: England 78-3 (Sciver-Brunt 28, Dunkley 12) Oooft! Brown cops a hammering straight drive on the shin, slumps to the ground and gets up grinning from ear-to-ear. If her pace isn’t enough of a worry, the unnatural pain threshold should be. That was flying off Dunkley’s bat and somehow saved at least a couple of runs. A maiden over.
33rd over: England 78-3 (Sciver-Brunt 28, Dunkley 12) Sciver-Brunt pulls out the sweep for the first time and picks up two runs to start the over. The right-hander picks up a shorter ball to pull away for two more as King mixes things up a bit more whether intentionally or otherwise.
32nd over: England 74-3 (Sciver-Brunt 24, Dunkley 12) Another tidy over from Brown as the Australia quick keeps testing Sciver-Brunt outside off-stump with varied length. Sciver-Brunt nudges a single off her pads on the leg-side, the main scoring outlet at the moment.
31st over: England 73-3 (Sciver-Brunt 23, Dunkley 12) King keeps Sciver-Brunt busy as the spinner has the ball landing just outside leg-stump and turning across the right-hander. Sciver-Brunt hands over the strike with a single on the leg-side.
30th over: England 72-3 (Sciver-Brunt 22, Dunkley 12) Another over of variable length - in a good way - from Brown has Sciver-Brunt defending from her crease. The England batter whips a shorter ball off her pads for a single.
29th over: England 71-3 (Sciver-Brunt 21, Dunkley 12) King gives the ball plenty of flight as Dunkley leans forward to defend until a slightly overpitched delivery finally arrives. Dunkley dances to reach a half volley and clobbers it past King and Sciver-Brunt for four.
28th over: England 67-3 (Sciver-Brunt 21, Dunkley 8) Darcie Brown changes ends after bowling the second-last over before the break and mixes up her length to keep Dunkley guessing. The right-hander finds a single with a whip off her pads.
27th over: England 66-3 (Sciver-Brunt 21, Dunkley 7) Alana King lets rip with a slip and short leg in catching positions as the leg-spinner gives the ball plenty of flight. Sciver-Brunt cuts a bit of a loosener away to deep point for a single before King gets the ball drifting and turning out of a surprisingly giving day-one deck. Dunkley adds a single when leaning forward to defend and finding a thick edge.
Australia are back on the field along with England batters Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley, with Alana King dropping her marker as the leg-spinner prepares to bowl for the first time in this Test.
King claimed 11 wickets in the three ODIs that kicked off this Ashes series, then three more in the T20s, but has had less impact across her four previous Tests with only four scalps coming at 60.5.
Peter Warrington is back to consider the differing depth between the sides which was always likely to be a factor across 10 playing days in little more than two weeks but has been much more pronounced than I, for one, expected.
“That point you make about Dunkley just shows how hard it is to tour a team for a multi-format series. Dunkley is a very skilled T20 thrasher. She’s in good form, so gets a Test – because England (a) can’t bring three full teams; (b) and don’t have the batting depth for it. Whereas Australia, if any of our top six were injured yesterday, could have rushed in any of Redmayne, Burns if fit, Wilson, Lanning if willing, Carey, Mack, and probably another 10.”
Australia had the better of the first session with three wickets for only 64 runs as Kim Garth threatened by moving the ball both ways and finished with 2 for 13 from 10 overs. Heather Knight (25) made a start but was again unable to turn it into a big score that her side desperately needs, as the captain was trapped in front to leave Nat Sciver-Brunt (20 not out) as the key to the tourists’ hopes of amassing a competitive first innings total at the MCG.
Top up a beverage, grab yourself a snack, take a peek at the over-by-over action coming out of Galle, and we’ll be back shortly for the second session.
26th over: England 64-3 (Sciver-Brunt 20, Dunkley 6) Alyssa Healy calls on spin for the first time in what is surely the last over before lunch. The Australia skipper turns to Ash Gardner’s off-spin as the all-rounder returns from a calf injury that sidelined her for the T20 leg. Gardner gets a bit out of the pitch as Dunkley defends off the back foot to see out the over and head off for a feed unbeaten alongside Sciver-Brunt.
25th over: England 64-3 (Sciver-Brunt 20, Dunkley 6) A ripper from Brown is too good for Sciver-Brunt as the England batter gets forward but misjudges the movement. Sciver-Brunt is more comfortable with the ball pitched back of a length but can’t find the gaps. Maiden over.
24th over: England 64-3 (Sciver-Brunt 20, Dunkley 6) Garth has 2 for 13 from her 10 overs after Voll dives to limit a well-timed drive from Sciver-Brunt to a single, then the Australia quick has Dunkley defending with lunch very much now in sight.
23rd over: England 63-3 (Sciver-Brunt 19, Dunkley 6) Darcie Brown returns as Healy sticks with pace on the brink of lunch. Sciver-Brunt has been patient so far but can’t resist a shorter ball that she whacks back past the bowler to the rope, then plays a much more traditional drive for three to the same area. Dunkley almost hands Brown a gift as she lofts a drive that falls short of mid-off.
22nd over: England 56-3 (Sciver-Brunt 12, Dunkley 6) A half-hearted appeal for lbw as Garth jags the ball back into Dunkley, beats the inside edge and finds the back pad. But a smart call from the umpire as height was the only issue.
21st over: England 55-3 (Sciver-Brunt 11, Dunkley 6) Dunkley isn’t one to hang around as the right-hander crunches a straight drive to the rope. A classy stroke from the England batter gets the score ticking over again. Sutherland responds with a tidy over and almost lures Dunkley into a loose drive far away from her body but the England batter is fortunate to play and miss.
20th over: England 51-3 (Sciver-Brunt 11, Dunkley 2) Garth to Sciver-Brunt for another maiden. The Australia quick has the ball talkin’ – and moving both ways – as she pitches it up and keeps the batter guessing. Garth really has been at the top of her game across this series and it would be no shame for England if they are hoping to see her off.
19th over: England 51-3 (Sciver-Brunt 11, Dunkley 2) Sutherland loses her line and almost picks out the skipper standing at first slip until Mooney dives in front her. Dunkley leaves anything she isn’t forced to play at from there then gets off the mark with a clip off her pads for two.
18th over: England 48-3 (Sciver-Brunt 11, Dunkley 0) After a relatively loose opening over, Kim Garth has been right on point just as she was in the white-ball matches across this series. A maiden to Sciver-Brunt is Garth’s third from seven overs.
17th over: England 48-3 (Sciver-Brunt 11, Dunkley 0) Sophia Dunkley has earned her spot in the England XI after missing out on the three ODIs but then impressing at the top of the order in the first two T20s in particular. The powerful right-hander comes in at No 5 this time as England are in an all-too familiar position in this series as they need to rebuild their innings. Sciver-Brunt works a single off her pads, Dunkley then sees off Sutherland’s four deliveries in a cautious start.
WICKET! Knight lbw b Garth 25 (England 47-3)
Garth ends a superb over by getting the ball moving into the England skipper and beating the inside edge to crash into Knight’s front pad. Knight barely considers a review after she is stuck on her crease and Australia have the big breakthrough.
16th over: England 47-3 (Sciver-Brunt 10, Dunkley 0)
