England fight back to finally claim Netball World Cup win over Australia

By Sports Desk August 03, 2023

England erased an eight-point deficit to claim their first Netball World Cup win over Australia at the 14th attempt and secure top spot in Group A in Cape Town.

Jess Thirlby’s side stormed back towards the end of the third quarter and Fran Williams’ crucial interception in the dying seconds earned an historic 56-55 win.

Both teams had already secured progression from the group stage into the last four but their win means England will potentially avoid a more daunting path to the final.

Thirlby told BBC Sport: “It’s a massively important moment for this group because it adds to our confidence bank, but we know it means nothing if we can’t follow it up.

“I think it’s the fact we were eight down and then to be pushed in the last 15 minutes and still come out on top, I don’t think you can under-estimate mentally what that tells you about where this group is at.”

England were set to find out the identity of their semi-final opponents later on Thursday, with holders New Zealand facing potential elimination in their last group match against favourites Jamaica.

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    Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.

    Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.

    England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.

    He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.

    As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.

    Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.

    Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day

    Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.

    Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.

    Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.

    If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.

  • England dominate Sri Lanka after Atkinson's maiden Test century England dominate Sri Lanka after Atkinson's maiden Test century

    England ended day two of the second Test versus Sri Lanka with a commanding 256-run lead, having skittled the tourists for 196 off the back of Gus Atkinson's century.

    Joe Root's record-equalling 33rd red-ball century had ensured England ended a difficult opening day with a chance to build a commanding lead, and they did just that early on as Atkinson took centre-stage.

    Resuming at 74 not out, Atkinson brought up his maiden Test century with a fine drive past mid-on shortly before lunch, eventually ending his knock with 14 fours and four sixes.

    He would later fall for 118 to the outstanding Asitha Fernando, who then completed a five-for by removing Olly Stone to wrap up the England innings at 427 all out.

    Any hopes Sri Lanka had of making an early dent in that target were frustrated, however, as England shared the wickets around in a brilliant team bowling performance.

    Chris Woakes and Stone, who removed Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka within the space of five balls – left the tourists teetering at 35-3 by the end of the 10th over, and there was little help to come from the middle order.

    Matthew Potts took the ball and sent stumps flying to account for Angelo Matthews and Dhananjaya de Silva in the 21st over, with Woakes, Stone and Atkinson later also doubling up as the tourists collapsed. 

    Kamindu Mendis' steady knock of 74 off 120 balls brought some respite for Sri Lanka, but he edged Atkinson's delivery into the palms of Woakes for the final wicket, failing to match his ton from the first Test at Old Trafford on a miserable day for the visitors.

    England then avoided any drama when taking up the bat for seven overs before stumps, and Ben Duckett (15) and Pope (2) will resume at the crease on Saturday, hoping to make their handsome lead an unassailable one.

    Data Debrief: Atkinson's big moment

    While Root's heroics put England in a decent position ahead of Friday's play, Atkinson's brilliant 118 – coming off 115 balls – could prove the difference in this Test, allowing England to build a strong lead despite a lack of support from the lower order.

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    Root's knock of 143 from 206 deliveries saw him go level with Alastair Cook for the most Test centuries for England as they closed the day on 358-7. 

    After losing the toss and being made to bat first, the hosts were reduced to 97-3 at lunch, with Dan Lawrence (nine), Ollie Pope (one) and Ben Duckett (40) all falling inside the first 20 overs of the contest. 

    Asitha Fernando claimed his second wicket of the afternoon with the dismissal of Harry Brook for 33, but Root was able to steady the ship as the wickets tumbled around him.

    Root passed the half-century mark for the 65th time in this format earlier in the day, forming a seven-wicket stand of 92 with Gus Atkinson (74 not out) also scoring his maiden Test half-century. 

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    Data Debrief: Record-equalling Root

    Root has now equalled Cook (33) for the most hundreds for England in men’s Tests; he’s scored 60+ in seven of his last nine Test innings (84, 68, 14, 122, 87, 62 and 143).

    This was also Root's sixth Test century at Lord's, the joint-most by any batter in the format (including Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan).

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