Cricket, throughout the globe, had taken a hit since the outbreak of novel Coronavirus. While the big boards and the administrators are busy counting revenues and sketching plans for men as of now, Germany and Austria have registered their names as the first women teams to have played international cricket since a pandemic was declared and lockdown came alongside.
A five-match T20I series was organized between the countries. The results were clean and Germany got the better of their Austrian counterparts at each stage and hence we got a whitewash. More interestingly, for the scorers, statisticians and fans, there was a record attached with each match and the matches were lively, to say the least.
Germany completes 5-0 Whitewash over Austria. What a tour for @Cricket_Germany 👏 #GERvAUS pic.twitter.com/Xh7ezDvM2c
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 15, 2020
1st T20I: Germany defeat Austria by 82 Runs
In the first encounter, the German side was batting first and Christina Gough got herself 72. This became the highest score from a German cricketer in T-20 Internationals. In reply, the Austrians could manage a mere 83 and were bowled out an over before the completion of their innings. Emma Bargna got three wickets for her side.
2nd T20I: Germany defeat Austria by 138 Runs
The second T20 saw the best of German opening as they were batting first again. This time, Gough was a mere spectator at the non-striking end as her partner had taken the charge. Janet Ronalds got her century in style and the duo got an unbeaten total of 191 onboard. This was the first century for any German player in T20Is and was the highest score without losing a wicket in all T20Is. Moreover, this was the fourth biggest partnership in women’s T20 record books. Germany flew away with the game alongside some ease as Bargna was on a roll today too. She got five wickets and registered the first five-wicket haul for Germans in Twenty-Twenty encounters.
3rd T20I: Germany defeat Austria by 10 Wickets
The third match saw Austrians batting first. They got a solid start and were 28 without a loss. Soon, however, wickets started rumbling and Anne Beirswich came to the party. She got a hat trick to her name which is the 18th in the tally of all hat-tricks taken by women in international T20Is.
4th T20I: Germany defeat Austria by 137 Runs
The German openers were hungry for more and proved the same in the fourth encounter. Gough and Ronalds got a massive stand of 198 between them. Gough got the second International century for Germans in T20 Internationals. The skipper was ready to take her share as well. Anuradha with her medium pacers took the world by Surprise. She took four wickets in four consecutive balls and became the first woman to do so.
GREAT DAY FOR @Cricket_Germany ♥️
Skipper Anuradha Doddaballapur creates History by becoming the first woman to take 4 Wickets in 4 Consecutive Balls in Women’s T20I.
What a star! pic.twitter.com/qm0TP0bd1I
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 14, 2020
Moreover, she had a fifer to her name with the exchange of merely one run. These were the best figures by a Captain in T20I history.
5th T20I: Germany defeat Austria by 79 Runs
Germans decided to shuffle their batting lineup for the last match and were restricted to 129 after the early efforts of Austrian bowlers. German bowling lineup, however, proved too heavy for the Austrian batters as Anne Bierswich got 4 wickets to her name and during the match had a chance to grab another hat trick. She became the only woman to earn this feat.
WORLD RECORD ALERT 🚨
Captain of Germany Women’s Cricket team Captain Anuradha Doddaballapur took 4 WICKETS IN 4 BALLS today playing against Austria. #AUSvGER #GERvAUS pic.twitter.com/Y8R42RzEYv
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 14, 2020
It is incredible to realize that smaller teams have made their way into the record books. Hopefully, the game will reach more hearts and more such teams will rewrite records.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.