Compared to the action-packed month of May 2019, June turned out to be quiet in comparison. The only international tour scheduled for the month was the West Indies tour of England. They were scheduled to play 3 ODIs and T20Is over the month. Due to the intervention of rain, the 3 ODIs were played as scheduled with 2 of those games decided under Duckworth-Lewis method. England were However, 2 T20Is fixtures were completely rained off and only 1 match could be completed. England were dominant throughout the series winning the ODI leg 3-0 and also winning the solitary T20I that was played.
There were other matches that were played this month. Australia Women arrived in England for the Women’s Ashes tournament and played 2 practice matches against England Academy Women. Also, the 2019 ICC Women’s Qualifier Europe was staged with both Netherlands and Scotland progressing to the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifiers and Netherlands progressing to the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.
Here are the top performers for the month of June 2019:
Amy Jones: Amy Jones was the top performer in the series against West Indies. Her sparkling form with the bat continued as she made a total of 189 runs in 3 matches of the ODIs. She scored 91 runs off 99 balls in the first ODI and 80 runs in 83 balls in the third. She provided a fast start to the England innings in the only T20I that was played scoring 37 runs off 27 balls.
Heather Knight: The England captain also had a very good series against the West Indies. She was the second-highest run-scorer in the ODI series with 148 runs in 3 matches. She top-scored with a run-a-ball 94 in the first ODI setting up a huge total of 318/9 in their 50 overs. She also made a quick-fire 40 runs in just 19 deliveries to haul England to 258/4 in 39 overs in the rain-interrupted third ODI. She also picked up 2 wickets.
Tammy Beaumont: The dashing England opener also had an excellent series against West Indies. She scored 61 runs in the second ODI. She scored another 46 runs off 54 balls in the third ODI. With a total of 139 runs in the 3 ODIs put together, she became the third-highest run-getter in the ODI series behind Amy Jones and Heather Knight.
Danielle Wyatt: The England opener in the T20Is, Danielle Wyatt scored a majestic 81 runs in just 55 balls in the only T20I against the West Indies that was played. Her innings was laced with 10 boundaries as she helped England set up an imposing target of 181 in 20 overs and ended up winning comprehensively by 42 runs.
Hayley Matthews: The West Indian all-rounder had an impressive series against England. Although, there was no meaningful contribution with the bat, she picked up 7 wickets across the 3 ODIs to become the leading wicket-taker in the series. She picked up 4 wickets in the first ODI, 1 wicket in the second and 2 wickets in the third. In addition to these 7 wickets, she also picked up a wicket and effected 2 run-outs in the only T20I played.
Meg Lanning: Australian captain Meg Lanning had an excellent warm-up against England Academy Women as she scored 96 runs in the second one-day match.
Ellyse Perry: The Australian all-rounder also had a good warm-up for the Ashes as she made 38 runs in the first match and 46 runs in the second. She also picked up 3 wickets in the 2 warm-ups.
Katherine Bryce: The Scotland captain the T20 World Cup Qualifiers Europe had an excellent tournament with both bat and ball. She may have only scored 34 runs against Netherlands in a low-scoring encounter but also ended up picking 2 wickets for 4 runs to take the game to the Super Over and win the game for Scotland. In the very next match, she scored 65 runs in 46 balls to help Scotland reach 168/7 in their 20 overs and win the much-needed game for Scotland. She became the second-highest scorer of the tournament.
Sterre Kalis: The Dutch player scored 126 runs off just 76 balls to help her team post an imposing 196/3 in their 20 overs against Germany. In reply, Germany could not even reach her individual score and managed to make just 65 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. The match was won comfortably by Netherlands. Sterre Kalis became the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 158 runs to her name. She also picked up 4 wickets.
The next month seems to be more interesting and eventful as Australia aim to defend the Ashes crown against England in England. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe women’s team was also scheduled to tour Ireland but the tour stands cancelled for financial reasons.
