England’s second ODI against Sri Lanka at Northampton on Tuesday was frustratingly washed out, after the hosts reduced Sri Lanka to 106 for nine having asked them to bat first.
The sweltering September heatwave finally broke just in time to delay the start of play by 30 minutes, while the match was eventually abandoned after just 30.5 overs.
It was especially disappointing for Alice Davidson-Richards, who had enjoyed a recall to the side in place of the ill Lauren Bell – her first outing for England since scoring a Test century against South Africa in June 2022. The all-rounder finished the day with two for 16, as part of a Sri Lankan middle-order collapse from 76 for three to 79 for six in the space of three overs.
“It’s nice remembering how well I can play sometimes,” Davidson-Richards said. “I went to some club cricket on Saturday and remembered how fun cricket is. I’ve tried to bring that [fun] into today. If I put pressure on myself that’s when it goes a bit tits up.”
She added that she had been out on a bike ride when she got the recall from coach Jon Lewis, alongside teammate Freya Davies. The pair are training for a London to Paris Charity Bike Ride in aid of the Professional Cricketers’ Trust.
“I saw it [the phone call] coming and said, ‘I’ll deal with this later’,” she joked. She added that she was taking nothing for granted in terms of selection for the final ODI at Leicester on Thursday, when England will have the chance to wrap up the series victory: “I am looking no further ahead than some ice cream tomorrow!’”
The day had started promisingly for Sri Lanka, with 26 runs coming off the opening 17 balls as Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne enjoyed easy pickings off Kate Cross and Lauren Filer. But Amy Jones followed up her record-breaking wicketkeeping performance in the first ODI by snaffling three more chances behind the stumps, while Charlie Dean – into the side after England chose to rest the 17-year-old Mahika Gaur – wrapped up the powerplay with the crucial wicket of Athapaththu.
It was a wily piece of bowling from the off-spinner, who turned the first three balls past the bat before finally sending down a fuller arm ball, to trap the Sri Lankan captain plumb in front for a run-a-ball 34. A direct hit from Kate Cross at cover then saw Achini Kulasuriya run out for a duck after dozily failing to ground her bat backing up, before rain called a halt to proceedings.
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