England vs South Africa match witnesses a few rare records in Women's ODI cricket

The run scoring rate has gradually increased in Women’s ODI cricket and the 2nd One-Day International between England and South Africa on Tuesday was a contributor to that. The game played at the Hove saw the hosts levelling the series with a comfortable 69-run win.

England posted a big total of 331/6 in the 50 overs with the help of centuries from Sarah Taylor (118) and Tammy Beaumont (101). The visiting side began the chase with a 142-run opening stand as Lizelle Lee scored a 107-ball 117. However, due to the collective failure of their experienced middle order saw they ended up with only 262/9.

The run-fest unlocked some rare feats and a few records Women’s ODI records were broken.

1 – This game is the first in Women’s ODI history where three individual centuries were recorded in a single match. Sarah Taylor, Tammy Beaumont and Lizelle Lee were the centurions in this game. The County Ground in Hove was also the venue for the Women Cricket’s first ever ODI century, the first instance of two centuries in an ODI and also the first time two hundreds were scored in an ODI inning.

In the 1973 Women’s ODI World Cup game between England and International XI the home team’s DL Thomas and E Bakewell scored centuries. This match was only the 2nd game in Women’s ODI cricket.

1 – Sarah Taylor and Lizelle Lee, the wicket-keepers in this match scored hundreds. This is the first time both the keepers scored centuries in a Women’s ODI game.

117 – Lizelle Lee’s 117 is the highest individual score and only the 4th hundred in an unsuccessful chase in Women’s ODI cricket. Harmanpreet Kaur’s 107* in the 2013 CWC also against England was the previous highest in an unsuccessful chase in Women’s ODIs. The 3rd highest was also in the same CWC against England by New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite who scored 103.

117 – Lizelle Lee’s 117-run knock is the maiden century for South Africa against England in Women’s ODI cricket. Lizelle’s unbeaten 92 in the first ODI of the series was the previous highest ODI score by a South African woman against England.

142 – The 142-run stand between Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt is the highest opening stand in Women’s ODI cricket to be on the losing side. The previous biggest opening stand in a losing cause in Women’s ODI is 134 by England’s CMG Atkins and A Brindle against India in 2002.

The 142-run partnership is overall the 6th highest and 2nd biggest while chasing in Women’s ODI cricket to end up on the losing side. South African pair T Chetty and AL Hodgkinson added 143 for the 2nd wicket also against England in the 2011 Potchefstroom ODI.

593 – A total of 593 runs were scored in this game making it the 3rd highest aggregated ODI game in Women’s cricket. In the World Cup game between these two sides in 2o17 a total of 678 runs were put up on the board- England scored 373 and South Africa replied with 305. A total of 634 runs were scored in the recent ODI game between New Zealand and Ireland where the White Ferns posted a record score of 490.