Women’s Ashes Test: England v Australia, day four – live | Women’s Ashes

37th over: Australia 128-1 (Mooney 57, Perry 17) Perry plays a beautiful sweep for four – an unusual shot from her, but you wouldn’t know it from watching her play it! She’s content with just the boundary from the over.

36th over: Australia 124-1 (Mooney 57, Perry 13) Sciver-Brunt returns for her second over – it’s a fairly tight one and Perry and Mooney each manage a single from it.

35th over: Australia 122-1 (Mooney 56, Perry 12) A little break for some drinks and we’re back into it. Ecclestone is not willing to give me any relief from typing Ecclestone and just keeps going with her spell. Jones tries for another stumping and the umpires take a look again, but no one seems to particularly think it’s out. It’s a maiden for Ecclestone.

34th over: Australia 122-1 (Mooney 56, Perry 12) A new bowler now, with Nat Sciver-Brunt on to bowl, replacing Cross. She’s immediately into the action – Mooney smashes one straight back at her and there’s a catching chance, but she puts it down. Mooney immediately cuts one away to get off strike and out of danger and Perry also picks up a single two balls later. Jones appeals for a stumping on Mooney late in the over and the umpire calls for a review. Mooney does a good job in getting her foot back and they can’t claim their second wicket just yet.

33rd over: Australia 120-1 (Mooney 55, Perry 11) The sky is still looking very blue, but there are definitely some scattered clouds beginning to gather. I’ll keep an eye on that as best I can for you. Ecclestone just keeps on going, she seems like she’d happily bowl all day. Perry pushes a length ball to deep point for two and then defends to finish the over.

32nd over: Australia 117-1 (Mooney 54, Perry 9) Perry almost hits a ball straight into Mooney’s feet, but Mooney manages to dodge it and it’s Ecclestone who cuts it off to keep it to just a single. Mooney plays a nice shot to deep cover for another single to keep the runs ticking over.

31st over: Australia 115-1 (Mooney 53, Perry 8) Mooney starts the over by bringing up her 50 and the eases back. It looks like a few clouds are starting to drift in and a little bit of a breeze appears to be creeping in as well.

FIFTY! Beth Mooney

30th over: Australia 111-1 (Mooney 49, Perry 8) Mooney looks like she’s got the first ball of the over away, but the field cuts it off and she has to wait to reach her milestone. Cross is bowling a really good line to the left hander, she doesn’t have many scoring options open to her. Eventually she finds a little bit of space near square leg and manages a single – the only run of the over.

29th over: Australia 110-1 (Mooney 48, Perry 8) Perry plays a truly beautiful shot for her first boundary, a sensational cover drive that glides across the grass to the rope.

28th over: Australia 106-1 (Mooney 48, Perry 4) Cross resumes to Perry and now that she’s off the mark, she’s playing with more freedom. She’s such a stylish batter, it really is a joy to watch her drive for a single. Mooney has taken on the more cautious role now, defending as she approaches her fifty.

27th over: Australia 105-1 (Mooney 48, Perry 3) Another over from Ecclestone and Perry continues with her defence. Finally, on the last ball of the over she gets off the mark – it’s nearly a boundary, but Beaumont runs all the way to the boundary to save it.

26th over: Australia 102-1 (Mooney 48, Perry 0) The Australians have gone back into their shells a bit since the loss of Litchfield. Very defensive shots being played at the moment – it’s not until late in the over that Mooney finds a length she likes, driving it to deep cover for two.

25th over: Australia 100-1 (Mooney 46, Perry 0) Ecclestone resumes and Mooney guides one over mid wicket for a single to bring up the 100 for Australia. A half appeal for LBW on Perry midway through the over, but no one is too interested. Ecclestone is tossing them up nicely – getting above the batters’ eyeline, but Perry isn’t tempted into any silly moves.

24th over: Australia 99-1 (Mooney 45, Perry 0) Mooney takes two off the first ball of the over, driving it to deep backward point. A single off the next ball gets Litchfield back on strike, approaching her fifty. Litchfield can’t get her maiden Test half century, bowled on 46, but it brings Perry to the crease. She plays her shots very patiently to see out the over.

WICKET! Litchfield b Cross 46 (Australia 99-1)

23rd over: Australia 96-0 (Mooney 42, Litchfield 46) Litchfield gets the opportunity now after a few quick strokes from Mooney brought her up to the same score. On the third ball of the over, she finds a ball she takes a fancy to – it’s an uncontrolled shot in the air, but it lands safely and trickles to the boundary. Dunkley and Beaumont are under the lids around the bat and no doubt they’re hoping to get in the youngster’s head.

22nd over: Australia 92-0 (Mooney 42, Litchfield 42) Taking a little bit of time here while the physio sees to Cross, who appears to have injured her hand while dropping that catch last over. Fortunately it’s not her bowling hand and she’s able to continue her spell. Her length is good to start the over, but on the fourth ball, she misses her line a little and Mooney has no issues guiding it through the covers for four. She enjoys it so much, that she does it again two balls later.

21st over: Australia 84-0 (Mooney 34, Litchfield 42) Ecclestone comes on from the other end – no surprises there, she was the pick of the bowlers in Australia’s first innings. Litchfield doesn’t look troubled, she isn’t playing huge shots, but she’s defending very comfortably and waiting for an opportunity to come her way. But she slips up on the fourth ball of the over and hits it straight to Cross at short extra cover – fortunately for Litchfield, Cross puts the catch down and she gets a life. She plays out a maiden from Ecclestone.

20th over: Australia 84-0 (Mooney 34, Litchfield 42) Cross gets us underway and Mooney starts with an immediate single to get Litchfield on strike. Litchfield is a little more cautious, defending back for three balls before taking a single of her own. No signs of concern about these looming storms just yet, just easing into the day to start with.

Here’s how the pitch is looking for day four – you’ll spot the beautiful blue sky Tor referred to in the background also!

Tor Tuner also has some concerns about the weather – those looming storms are certainly causing some worries!

Morning Megan,

It’s starting to get busier here at Trent Bridge, and right now the weather is incredible. Local sales of sun cream must be through the roof.

I hate to mention the dreaded “r” word, but prediction is storms from 1pm, so we’re looking at possibly no play – or a lot less play – after lunch. How do you reckon that changes the Aussie strategy?

Tor Turner

Good question – I’d expect to see an uptick in scoring rate from Mooney and Litchfield with a view to putting as many runs on the board as possible and building a lead very quickly so they can have tomorrow to try to bowl England out. I don’t think either team is thinking about a draw right now.

An email from a reader with the fantastic name of John Starbuck with some important weather news.

Megan,

Good morning and welcome to the OBO (is this your debut?). One thing we need to reckon on is the prospect of losing the entire second session to thunderstorms, making the draw a little more likely. If this happens, is it two points each?

Cheers,

John Starbuck

It’s not my debut John, but thank you for the welcome! I’d probably say I’m the Jess Jonassen of the Guardian OBO team – I’ll leave you to decide how that metaphor works.

While this Test is going on, there is also an Australia A v England A series happening. Despite Australia’s well-publicised depth, it may interest you to know that England A have won the first two T20s in the series pretty decisively – by 74 runs and five wickets respectively. But one positive for Australia has been the return of Tayla Vlaeminck from a stress fracture in the navicular bone of her right foot – my netball / cricket crossover girlies will recognise that injury from the season it stole from Diamonds’ captain Liz Watson. It’s a nasty one. Read all about Vlaeminck’s recovery and return on the Cricket Australia website.

The counterpunch from England’s social team is this compilation of every Beaumont boundary in her record-breaking innings.

This is a nice little behind the scenes snapshot of Sutherland returning to the Australian room after scoring her century – a huge moment for her.

If you’d rather read more about Tammy Beaumont’s magnificent knock, this piece from Raf Nicholson is a beauty.

While you’re getting yourself ready for the start of play, why not read Geoff Lemon on the unexpected fallibility of the Australians yesterday? Is Alyssa Healy’s inexperience in Test captaincy starting to show? Drop me an email or send me a tweet to let me know your thoughts on the situation.

Preamble