Wisden Cricket Monthly editor-in-chief Phil Walker revisits Meg Lanning, the greatest female batsman of them all, breaking the T20I world record score to smash ‘Fortress Chelmo’ to pieces, No.5 in Wisden’s innings of the decade.
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Meg Lanning 133* (63 balls, 17 fours, 7 sixes)
England Women v Australia Women
Chelmsford
First T20I
July 26, 2019
The innings
The modern master, as imperious in her field as any individual sporting figure this decade, ascended to a whole other level one night in Essex.
No matter that England had never lost at ‘Fortress Chelmo’. All the ingredients were there. The ground’s tarmac-like strip and inviting boundaries had staged a fair few T20 records in its time, England were down on luck and faith, and Australia had already retained the Ashes.
For sure, a ragged England side, devoid of hope, bowled poorly; Anya Shrubsole, normally metronomic, would be dropped for the next game. But for all that they abetted the assault, observers struggled to recall a more seismic single performance.
With 13 ODI centuries to go with a brace in T20Is, this Meg girl is comfortably out on her own. As the captain of a paradigmatic cricket team that would later that evening put on an unforgettable fielding masterclass, she is breaking new ground almost by the month. And she’s not even 28 till March.
The shot
On 97, facing Shrubsole, she takes on the leg-side boundary and short-arm clobbers a decent length delivery high and far over square leg. The raised arms and thinnish, businesslike smile that accompanies the inevitable landmark – the fastest T20I century of all time – evokes Ponting in his pomp.
