Ellyse Perry was a familiar thorn in England’s side as she offset an eye-catching debut from Lauren Filer on the opening day of the lone Test which started the multi-format Women’s Ashes series.
Perry was given lbw on 10 to Filer’s first delivery in international cricket but the Australia linchpin was reprieved on review as replays showed the ball caught an inside edge before thudding into the pads.
While Filer had her maiden international wicket when Beth Mooney edged to gully on 33, Perry’s unbeaten 82 carried Australia to 213 for three before a rain shower led to an early tea being taken.
Perry, who made 116 and 76 not out in the 2019 Test between the sides at Taunton, put on 119 with Tahlia McGrath in a largely frustrating afternoon session at Trent Bridge for the hosts.
Sophie Ecclestone, the top-ranked bowler in the world, castled McGrath for a Test-best 61 after finding just enough turn off the pitch but Perry was assured after a nervy start against Filer.
Heather Knight had promised to “entertain and inspire” and set attacking fields throughout after losing the toss – although the England captain insisted she would have bowled on a green-tinged pitch.
Kate Cross was entrusted with the first delivery at the outset of just the second five-day Women’s Test and served up a no-ball in a wayward opening over which yielded nine runs.
There was early sideways movement for her and Lauren Bell but Phoebe Litchfield justified her inclusion with a series of elegant drives on her Test debut.
While Mooney was given a let-off on nine after Cross failed to hang on to a one-handed return catch, Litchfield made two errors later in the over, first padding up to a delivery that straightened then failing to review the lbw as DRS showed the Dukes ball would have whizzed past off-stump.
The cagey Mooney was put down again on 19 when Test debutant Danni Wyatt spilled a diving catch at gully after Cross had drawn the edge while Perry greeted Ecclestone into the attack by clubbing a full and wide delivery for four.
But Perry seemed set for a low score when Filer, held back until the 18th over, used her extra pace to breach the defences of the number three batter but DRS detected a thick inside edge on to the pads.
Perry then played and missed at Filer’s second ball and edged the third short of the slips but the England seamer was belatedly in the wickets column when Mooney’s back-foot punch took the edge and carried to Cross at gully.
Perry, though, showed her full range either side of the lunch interval with decisive pulls, late cuts and fluent drives, reaching a 76-ball 50 with a dab off the returning Cross for her ninth four.
She was ably supported by McGrath, so often labelled the heir apparent to Perry, as the pair kept Australia on the front foot, with England unable to create any chances or keep the scoring under wraps.
McGrath seemed uneasy when Filer was reintroduced and edged through a vacant slip shortly after bringing up a half-century of her own. But it was still something of a surprise when Ecclestone defied a pitch offering little turn to break apart the union between Perry and McGrath.
Ecclestone’s delivery angled in then turned slightly to beat the defensive prod of McGrath and clip the top of off-stump shortly before the heavens opened as the players came off after 51.3 overs.
