Linsey Smith: It's surreal to celebrate five-for on my ODI debut for England

Independent

2 days ago

England bowler Linsey Smith admitted it was a 'surreal' feeling to claim a five-wicket haul on her one-day international debut after the hosts earned a convincing 108-run victory over the West Indies in Derby.
Tammy Beaumont (107) and Amy Jones (122) put on a stunning 222-run partnership for the first wicket which saw both openers claim their centuries, while captain Nat Sciver-Brunt added 52 late on as England climbed to 345 for six at the halfway point.
West Indies struggled with the bat in the previous T20 series but put up a bit more a fight this time around.
Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph's opening stand of 91 had them in the contest until the former was caught behind and – despite Joseph's 62 – the visitors slipped to defeat.
Smith ripped through the West Indies middle order and marked the occasion with a five-for haul which sealed a dominant performance from the hosts with both bat and ball.
The 30-year-old was happy with her performance but quickly switched the focus onto game two in Leicester next week.
She said: 'It's pretty surreal to be honest. Today feels like a bit of a blur but I guess initial feelings are, pretty over the moon.
'One, to make my debut; Two, to put in a performance and help the team win so I'm pretty proud of myself right now. But, there's another game coming up quickly and we want to win the series as well.
'I was just telling myself to try and hit the stumps and then obviously saw it go up in the air for what felt like about five minutes. But yeah, saw Dunks (Sophia Dunkley) underneath it and obviously she'd had a really good day in the field.
'So yeah, I felt pretty confident and it was nice, obviously fitting. She did my cap this morning as well, so to top it off with her was really nice.'
Smith made her England T20 debut against Bangladesh in 2018 and had to wait seven years to get her first cap in the 50-over format.
Smith became only the second woman to take a five-wicket haul in her first ODI for England and insisted she did not want to give up on her dream of playing in an ODI for her country.
She added: 'I've been reminded quite a few times today how many days in between debut I've had, but I just feel quite proud of myself because it's a dream that I didn't want to give up on.
'I know for quite a while I only played T20 and I knew deep down within me that I wanted to play every format and really push my case for that.
'I started off with Hampshire this year, putting in some good performances and then to carry that into this series to get the win is a good feeling.'