Australia debutant Mahli Beardman has ripped through England’s batting lineup in an electrifying introduction to international cricket.
Playing in front of his home Western Australian crowd in the Aussies’ ODI series-opener against the old enemy, the 21-year-old took five wickets in his first five overs to tear his debut game apart at Perth Stadium on Friday.
England was 2-38 when Beardman was brought on to bowl at first change, nine overs into the tourists’ innings. By the time he’d finished his fifth over, the youngster’s figures of 5-16 were already the best ever for an Australian on debut, edging past the 5-21 of Tony Dodemaide — one of three selectors who picked Beardman for this game — as England were reduced to 7-63 after 18.
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Beardman’s first two scalps in international cricket were those of Harry Brook (one) and Joe Root (17) before going on to remove Jordan Cox (two), Sam Curran (zero) and Liam Dawson (zero) in the blink of an eye.
Fellow seamer Spencer Johnson flew high in the air to take a spectacular caught and bowled and nab his second wicket in the 19th over and suddenly England’s innings was on the brink at 8-65.
It was a nightmare return to Perth for the visitors, whose last international game at the ground was the two-day Ashes Test in which they were dismantled by a Travis Head masterclass to lose by eight wickets inside two days, less than 12 months ago.
“Well, there’s something about Perth, this stadium, with England,” former England captain Michael Vaughan told Fox Sports after Johnson’s second wicket.
“Last year, the first innings in the Test lasted 32.5 overs, second innings 34.4 overs. And inside 19 overs in a one-day game, England are eight wickets down. Can we get away from Perth?”
Former Aussie captain Alyssa Healy lauded the selection of Beardman, who is only just recovering from stress fractures suffered in February this year.
“This is why I love young players getting an opportunity,” she said.
More to come …
