birmingham phoenix 161 for 5 (Perry 58, Devine 48) beat Welsh Fire 142 for 5 (Beaumont 39, Elwiss 2-29) by 19 runs
Birmingham Phoenix notched the second-highest total of the women’s Hundred as they beat Welsh Fire by 19 runs at a blisteringly hot Sophia Gardens.
After a slowish start, in which they were scoring at a run a ball in the first 20 and lost the wickets of Eve and Amy Jones, Phoenix picked up the pace to take 22 runs off the next set of five balls from Annabel Sutherland.
Welsh Fire skipper Tammy Beaumont led the charge with a 47-run opening partnership with Hayley Matthews. Matthews hammered 20 off 15 balls, while Beaumont notched 39 off 34 before she was stumped by Amy Jones off opposing skipper Devine.
Despite going down by 19 runs, Fire went on to bag their highest score in the competition with 142 for 5.
Having reached the eliminator last season, Phoenix recruited well in the off-season and made a good fist of being put in by Fire. Aussie import Perry enjoyed a brilliant debut in the tournament and her excellent innings of 58 off 31 balls included 10 fours to earn her the Hero of the Match award.
Having seen two wickets fall very cheaply at the top of the innings, Perry dug in with Devine to put on 46 for the third wicket. Between them they turned that conservative start into an innings with real momentum, Devine hitting seven fours and two sixes in her 48 of her.
Those two maximum strikes came off Matthews, as 18 runs came in her first set of five. That took Phoenix to 60 off 30, and although Devine departed soon after to Katie George’s first ball, Perry and Molineux provided a final flourish that took them to their best-ever total – five runs short of the 166 notched by Northern Superchargers against Fire last summer.
Lauren Filer, whose 20 balls cost just 20 runs, was the pick of the Fire bowlers, with Claire Nicholas taking 2 for 26.
The chase from Fire was energetic and innovative, with a ramp shot from Beaumont for six being the highlight. The skipper steered her team to 32 runs in the powerplay and looked set with Matthews until the latter was caught off the second ball from Abtaha Maqsood. Rachael Hynes hit some nice shot in her quickfire 14 and Sutherland notched 34 before she parted.
There was a spirited 20 in 12 balls from Fran Wilson before she was run out and, in the end, Fire fell well short.
Betty Taylor has been fighting the scourge of domestic violence in Queensland for more than three decades and even she was shocked by the explosive testimonies she heard at an inquiry into police culture.
Key points:
Leading advocate Betty Taylor is calling for a domestic violence and sexual assault commissioner
Current officers told the inquiry unconscious bias was a major issue and misogyny “ran wild” in the force
Tuesday marks the final day of public hearings, with a report to be handed down in October
WARNING: This story contains strong language that some readers may find offensive.
The chief executive of the Red Rose Foundation has been closely following the inquiry into the Queensland Police Service’s (QPS) response to domestic and family violence, which has spanned five weeks and heard from dozens of witnesses, including current and retired police officers.
With Tuesday marking its final day of public hearings, the inquiry has painted a damning picture of police culture and problematic attitudes in the ranks towards domestic violence survivors.
Misogynistic attitudes towards women, policy and procedural failures as well as serious allegations of police inaction to protect domestic violence survivors have all been laid bare.
Ms Taylor said officers’ response to domestic and family violence in Queensland was the worst she’s ever witnessed in her 34 years of advocacy.
“This inquiry is incredibly important. I’ve worked across the domestic violence field for 34 years and … the response by police is the worst it’s ever been,” Ms Taylor said.
“Not even just by police — I think women are getting a rough deal in the community and through the courts.
“Victims have to have confidence in the police. They’ve got to know they can call and… be taken seriously.”
‘Time for really significant reforms’
Ms Taylor said she hoped the inquiry would provide momentum for meaningful change and reform.
“We’ve got women potentially being murdered and police aren’t taking the time to do thorough investigations. It really concerns me,” she said.
“My hope is [that] we really step up and look at what domestic violence really is: one of the worst crimes in our community.
“It’s time to step back and reflect and put in place some really significant reforms.”
There are calls for ongoing face-to-face domestic violence training for police.(ABC News: Patrick Williams)
Headed by Judge Deborah Richards, the landmark inquiry’s goal is to determine whether cultural issues are negatively impacting how police handle domestic violence cases, as well as the experience of Indigenous domestic violence victims and the way corrupt conduct and complaints against police are dealt with.
A key recommendation of the Women’s Safety and Justice taskforce, the inquiry follows urgent calls for action after several high-profile domestic violence murders, including the deaths of Doreen Langham, Hannah Clarke and her three children.
Among the explosive evidence, one service officer — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — told the inquiry that misogyny “ran wild” within the force as he detailed hearing male colleagues frequently making derogatory remarks about female survivors and avoiding domestic violence incidents altogether.
“Domestic violence is just foreplay”, “she’s too ugly to be raped”, “rape is just surprise sex” and “I can see why he does it to her — if I was in his position, I’d do that,” the officer told the inquiry, recounting comments he had heard made by seasoned male officers.
The officer became emotional as he told the inquiry “the core business in his station was misogyny, dehumanization and negligence.”
‘She’s just blowing hot air’
Retired officer Audra Pollard — who was a coordinator officer in police call centers — told the inquiry she witnessed police deliberately driving away from a suburb to avoid responding to a domestic violence incident.
Ms Pollard said her colleagues would often make derogatory comments about “repeat” domestic violence complainants, saying things like: “Oh — that f**kwit has called again” “That spoon is on the line again”, “Don’t bother sending a crew to that job, she’s just blowing hot air, that sort of thing.”
Officers told the inquiry that misogyny and unconscious bias are major issues throughout the force.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)
The inquiry also heard from Sergeant Paul Trinder, a shift supervisor, who recalled a time where two officers, including a senior constable, downplayed a serious domestic violence incident, despite “clear photographic evidence” of assault and threats made against the victim.
“There was a statement from the aggrieved person that the respondent had threatened to decapitate the family dog in front of her and her children,” Sergeant Trinder told the inquiry.
“That victim had been failed by that officer. There was clear photographic evidence that she had been assaulted, like a punch-sized bruise around her rib cage and so on.
“That information was not provided to me at the time.”
The inquiry was told of another instance where a police officer did not investigate the suspicious death of a domestic violence victim because she and her husband were a “pair of scumbags who lived in a sh*t area in a sh*t house”.
Sergeant Trinder said “unconscious bias” was a major problem.
The inquiry was also told Indigenous domestic violence victims were turned away from police stations or misidentified as perpetrators.
‘DV fatigue’ blamed for police inaction
Several witnesses told the inquiry that officers were “DV fatigued” and fearful of scrutiny over their response to a large volume of cases, with police spending more than 40 per cent of their time responding to domestic violence matters.
As part of the inquiry, consultant and former detective Mark Ainsworth interviewed more than 50 police officers and found there was a culture of “taking shortcuts” to avoid doing DV orders because of their “convoluted nature”.
The inquiry heard there was a culture of doing the “bare minimum” when investigating DV complaints as a way of coping with burnout.(AAP: Dan Peled)
Mr Ainsworth was told the “culture of doing the bare minimum might be a coping mechanism to deal with being overworked and DV-fatigued”.
The inquiry also heard from the state’s most senior officer in charge of DV investigations, Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd, who said officers were overwhelmed, fatigued and reporting high levels of burnout and psychological distress.
He did concede that there were “significant issues of police culture at play.”
“We may have some members, albeit I hope very few, who do have some deeply misogynistic attitudes,” Assistant Commissioner Codd told the inquiry, although he did not say the issue was systemic.
Police unsurprised by officers perpetrating domestic violence
The inquiry also revealed 38 Queensland police officers were currently subject to domestic and family violence orders as of June 30.
Queensland Assistant Police Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon says police perpetrating domestic violence is concerning but expected given the size of the force.(Supplied: Queensland Police Service)
One officer, the inquiry was told, who was served wiith a Police Protection Notice (PPN), allegedly breached it just 33 minutes after being served a copy of it, while another allegedly used the QPS database to try to locate the crisis shelter of his ex-wife, who had lodged a DV complaint against him.
Assistant Police Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon — who heads the internal affairs division within the ethical standards command — said police-perpetrated DV was not surprising, given the size of the force.
“We’re a large organization of 17,000 people … it is not something that you can expect we won’t see in our organization given the size of it,” Assistant Commissioner Scanlon told the inquiry.
“There will be officers who will find themselves in a relationship that breaks down or where there are allegations of domestic violence unfortunately.
“Could we pick up some of these things earlier? I dare say we should have and could have.”
Will the inquiry lead to meaningful change?
There have been some notable absences from the public hearings, including QPS Commissioner Katarina Carroll, Queensland Police Union chief executive Ian Leavers and Police Minister Mark Ryan, yet none was asked by the inquiry to give evidence in person.
A common theme throughout the public hearings was the need for thorough and ongoing face-to-face DV training for police.
Almost 100 per cent of interviewees told Mr Ainsworth the “whole system” needs to be reviewed and streamlined to address cultural issues across the force.
Ms Taylor said her organization was calling for a domestic violence and sexual assault commissioner to ensure survivors were protected.
“I really would like to see a domestic violence and sexual assault commissioner that has an external role in not just overseeing complaints, but [also] policy advice to government, overseeing … how support is given to victims by both police and external agencies,” she said.
“The recommendations [to be handed down at the end of the inquiry] need to reflect the seriousness of what’s been heard.”
The inquiry will hand its final report to the state government in October.
In a statement, the QPS said it was committed to working with the inquiry to ensure “organizational values, standards of practice and responsibilities are being maintained and, where the opportunity arises, enhanced”.
“We are committed to strengthening and improving our response to DFV matters to ensure the service is supporting all victims and holding perpetrators to account,” a spokesperson said.
Australia 161 for 8 (Mooney 61, Lanning 36, Gardner 25, Renuka 2-25, Rana 2-38) beat India 152 (Harmanpreet 65, Rodrigues 33, Gardner 3-16, Schutt 2-27) by nine runs
Australia gave yet another lesson in closing out games under pressure and crushed India’s dreams to clinch gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022. With India needing 44 off 30 with seven wickets in hand, Ashleigh Gardner produced an incredible plot twist by dismissing Pooja Vastrakar and the half -centurion Harmanpreet Kaur off successive deliveries.
With a foot in the door, Australia barged it open by choking the lower middle order to clinch victory by nine runs as India lost their last eight wickets for just 34 runs. A crestfallen Harmanpreet, whose 43-ball 65 had lifted India into a match-winning position, sat motionless in the dugout, as did the rest of the team, who had to settle for the silver medal.
Meanwhile, Australia, holders of the 50-overs and T20 World Cups, added the only accolade they lacked – a gold medal at a multi-sports event – to reaffirm their status as the best team in the world.
Renuka delivers key breakthrough
India gave Alyssa Healy an early let-off two years ago in the T20 World Cup final, and saw her pummel a match-winning 39-ball 75. They may have briefly wondered if Healy would make them pay here too, when a thick edge off Renuka Singh flew just wide of where a regulation slip would be in the first over of the match.
Fortunately for them, Renuka sent Healy back in her next over, aided by an excellent DRS call from Harmanpreet. Ball-tracking suggested that Renuka’s nip-backer, which Healy played all around, would have crashed into middle and leg stumps. It wasn’t until the final over of the powerplay that Australia began to shift gears as Meg Lanning muscled Renuka down the ground for six in a 13-run over that took Australia to 43 for 1.
Lanning and Mooney push on
Despite the early loss and a few quiet overs, Lanning and Beth Mooney exuded a sense of calm, knowing the kind of damage they could inflict once set. Both batters targeted the short straight boundary effectively off the spinners, and raised their half-century stand off just 37 balls. Australia picked off six boundaries in the ninth and tenth overs, including four in a single Harmanpreet over, to set themselves up superbly at 83 for 1 at the halfway stage.
Radha changes the mood
After a tight first over in which she conceded just three tuns, Radha Yadav left her mark on the game in the 11th over when she showed terrific game-smarts to run Lanning out at the non-striker’s end. Having stopped a straight hit from Mooney, she quickly reverse-flicked the ball between her legs and onto the stumps with Lanning’s bat in the air when the stumps were disturbed. In the next over, her prowling presence of her at point resulted in a stunning catch as she threw herself full-stretch to dismiss Tahlia McGrath, who played the game despite testing positive for Covid-19.
Australia’s lower order goes big Gardner offset any pressure Australia may have felt with some typically aggressive hits to pocket a quick 25 before she was stumped off Sneh Rana. Despite wickets falling around her, Mooney carried on, raising a half-century off just 36 deliveries. Australia didn’t allow the succession of wickets to stall their momentum, even as India’s fielders kept pulling off stunners, including a one-handed back-pedaling catch from Deepti Sharma to dismiss Mooney, and Meghna Singh’s catch running back from mid-on to remove the dangerous Grace Harris. Rachael Haynes muscled an unbeaten 10-ball 18 to push Australia past 160.
India make nervous start
India lost both openers inside the first three overs. Smriti Mandhana was bowled behind her legs while looking to swing one into the leg side, ending an innings that had begun hopefully with scorching off-side strokes, while Shafali Verma slogged and holed out two balls after she was reprieved at cover by Megan Schutt.
Harmanpreet and Rodrigues keep India in the hunt Five years after her knock for the ages in the 50-overs World Cup semi-final against Australia, Harmanpreet threatened to produce the T20 version of that epic 171* against the same opponents.
Coming in with India 23 for 2 in the fourth over, Harmanpreet revived their innings with her drives and lofted hits, including a foray down the pitch for a six over wide long-on off Jess Jonassen in the tenth over. She began employing the sweep frequently too, as Australia’s spinners tried a leg-stump line against her. At the other end, the bat-slapping and fist-pumping Jemimah Rodrigues overcame a slow start – she was 1 off 7 at one point – to take some pressure off Harmanpreet by picking up regular boundaries in a run-a-ball 33. Their 96-run partnership had brought the equation down to a gettable 44 off 34 when Rodrigues was bowled looking to heave Schutt across the line.
Gardner applies the choke Australia’s relief turned into full-blown ecstasy when Gardner delivered a stunning second over, in which she removed the promoted Vastrakar and Harmanpreet off consecutive deliveries. While Vastrakar mistimed a hoick to deep midwicket, Harmanpreet fell attempting a paddle, the ball lobbing off her helmet to be caught behind by Healy. At that stage, Gardner’s figures were a magical 2-0-5-3.
As India lost wickets, the pressure caught up on them as batter after batter committed hara-kiri. Rana and Radha were run out, and Deepti, seemingly India’s last hope with them needing 13 off 10, was out lbw to Schutt.
It boiled down to India needing 11 off the final over, with Yastika Bhatia, who had come on as a concussion substitute for wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia, on strike to Jonassen. After turning down a single first ball, she ran an improbable second run off the second, in order to keep the strike, resulting in Meghna’s run-out at the danger end. With India now needing 10 off four balls, Yastika was out lbw attempting a reverse sweep.
And just like that, just like 2017, India had fallen agonizingly short in a global final.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Australia 68 for 1 (Lanning 36*) beat Barbados 64 (King 4-8, McGrath 3-13) by nine wickets
A career-best 4 for 8 – and a near hat-trick – for Australia legspinner Alana King led her side to an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Barbados and into the Commonwealth Games semi-finals.
Meg Lanning, the Australia skipper, went a good way towards making up for dropping the catch that would have given King her hat-trick with an unbeaten 36 from 21 balls as she and Alyssa Healy mowed down a paltry target of 65 with 71 balls to spare.
Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner added three and two wickets respectively as Barbados’ experienced top order crumbled and Australia kept them to a total that was always going to be nigh on impossible to defend against such formidable opposition.
Gold-medal favorites Australia are top of Group A with two wins from as many matches and they face winless Pakistan in their final group game on Wednesday when India and Barbados, with one win each so far, face off for the other semi-final berth .
Not this time, captain
Having scored a half-century and shared a 107-run partnership with Kycia Knight in their opening victory over Pakistan, Barbados captain Hayley Matthews cashed in as Darcie Brown struggled with her line and length to begin with. Matthews cut Brown’s first ball through backward point for four like a rocket and unfurled a cracking cover drive to find the boundary again three balls later. She steered the first ball of Brown’s next over through the covers then swung her over the leg side for consecutive boundaries, but Brown responded when she had Matthews out attempting to swat her over the leg side again only to sky the ball to a waiting Grace Harris at mid-on. Matthews was furious with herself, falling for a 13-ball 18, which she wasn’t to know would make her the top-scorer of a dismal Barbados innings.
dottin becalmed
When Matthews’ opening partner, Deandra Dottin clubbed Brown over extra cover for four it was her first shot in anger after facing a maiden from Jess Jonassen in just the third over and she ended the powerplay with just six runs from 20 balls faced.
King entered the attack in the eighth over and struck with her second ball, brushing the outside of Dottin’s front pad as she knelt down to tuck the ball down to fine leg right in line with middle stump and umpire Sue Redfern’s lbw decision was upheld when Dottin reviewed, the ball clearly hitting middle stump a third of the way up. Dottin finished with just eight runs from 22 balls with a meager strike rate of 36.36.
king rules
McGrath struck second ball when she had Kycia Knight, Barbados’ top-scorer in the first match with an unbeaten 62, easily caught by Megan Schutt at deep backward square. Kyshona Knight then chipped Gardner to Harris at midwicket as Barbados slid deeper into trouble at 49 for 4 and into their inexperienced batters. Gardner was excellent bowling her off-breaks, sending down 17 dot balls in her four overs and finishing with 2 for 6 after she removed 18-year-old Trishnan Holder for never to seal a double-wicket maiden.
McGrath finished with 3 for 13 as she ate into the tail but it was King who ruled on a slow pitch that has now staged six matches in this tournament. King accounted for Aaliyah Alleyne, taking a wild swing across the line of one that ripped out leg stump to end her second over. With the third ball of her third over, King pinned Shakera Selman lbw and then struck Shamilia Connell on the back leg next ball. King should have had another wicket immediately but 33-year-old international debutant Keila Elliott’s edge popped straight out of Lanning’s hands at slip. Usually so reliable in the field, Lanning lay face down on the turf for some time afterwards as King held her hands to her head, a brave smile painted on her face.
Lanning makes amends
Lanning all but made up for her blunder when she led Australia past the target, letting loose after a sedate start. Healy was uncharacteristically quiet early – she faced 14 balls for her first four runs after Australia lost Beth Mooney, stumped by Kycia Knight off the bowling of Shanika Bruce in the second over of their reply.
But Lanning punished some loose balls from Dottin in the sixth over, which went for 25 runs to close out the powerplay with Australia needing just 23 runs more. Back-to-back sixes swung powerfully over the leg side – the second off a high full toss that was called as a no-ball – in Dottin’s first over set Australia properly on their way. A wide preceded an unconventional four as Lanning stepped back and stuck her bat out as she toppled forwards along her crease and managed to steer the ball to the boundary through third.
Healy then began to find the rope with back-to-back fours off Matthews and Elliott in the next two overs before Lanning swatted Shakera Selman to the square-leg boundary to bring up the winning runs and a resounding victory.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo
