In our weekly feature on the ins and outs in women's sport, #WomensFootballWeekend proves to be a major success in the WSL while England claim a last-gasp win over France in rugby.

A week in the world of women's sport

A week in the world of women's sport

Cricket

England interim coach Ali Maiden has confirmed his 15-player squad for the limited-overs series against Pakistan in Malaysia.

Worcestershire leg-spinner Sarah Glenn has received her maiden call-up to the national squad while Sussex fast bowler Freya Davies has received a recall.

"We're looking forward to getting out there and getting back to international cricket," captain Heather Knight said.

"It's been a few months since our last game and there's been a fair bit of change in that time so this tour is an opportunity to start a new era and move forward.

"There's a few younger faces in the group but also a lot of proven talent. I'm really happy with the group and we can't wait for the next few months."

England squad: Heather Knight (Berkshire, captain), Tammy Beaumont (Kent), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire), Kate Cross (Lancashire), Freya Davies (Sussex), Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire), Sarah Glenn (Worcestershire), Kirstie Gordon (Nottinghamshire), Amy Jones (Warwickshire, wk), Nat Sciver (Surrey), Anya Shrubsole (Berkshire), Mady Villiers (Essex), Fran Wilson (Kent), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire), Danni Wyatt (Sussex).

England will play three ODIs and three T20s against Pakistan.

The Brisbane Heat are the new pace-setters in the Women's Big Bash League after they beat the Sydney Thunder and Perth Scorchers in their two matches over the weekend.

First they saw off the Thunder by 32 runs thanks to Jess Jonassen's career-best four for 13 and then they claimed an eight-wicket win over the Scorchers on the back of another four-wicket haul from Jonassen and an unbeaten 60 from Beth Mooney.

The last-gasp drama award of the weekend goes to Courtney Webb after she smashed a last-ball six to help the Melbourne Renegades to a six-wicket victory over the Sydney Sixers.

Your ladder, as they call it Down Under.

Over in the West Indies, it is still one-way traffic in the five-match T20 series as India have taken a 4-0 lead.

After winning the third T20 by seven wickets, they claimed a narrow five-run win in the rain-affected fourth match at Providence. The visitors posted 50 for seven in their nine overs and then restricted the Windies to 45 for five.

Football

Another weekend, another record-breaking feat for women's football as the Women's Super League drew record crowds.

In the first-ever #WomensFootballWeekend, more than 74,000 spectators attended the six WSL matches with a record 38,262 fans packing the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to watch the north London derby.

Defending WLS champions Arsenal won the bragging rights as they beat their local rivals Spurs 2-0 with Kim Little and Vivianne Miedema scoring the goals.

At Anfield, 23,500 turned up for the Merseyside derby as Everton beat hosts Liverpool 1-0.

In other results, Manchester City hammered West Ham 5-0, Chelsea were 1-0 winners of Manchester United, Brighton beat Birmingham 3-0 and Reading and Bristol Rovers drew 3-3.

And here are your standings.

And in case you missed last week's big transfer news, Chelsea have landed a major coup as they have signed Australian great Sam Kerr.

The 26-year-old, the all-time leading goalscorer in both the National Women's Soccer League in the United States and Australia's W-League, has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal and will be available from January.

Golf

She successfully led Team Europe to glory at the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland and Catriona Matthew will return to lead the team again in 2021 after being reappointed as captain.

Matthew will attempt to become first Solheim Cup captain to win multiple titles for Team Europe.

"Winning the Solheim Cup in Scotland was a dream come true, but backing that up with a win in America would be even better," she said.

"It’s always harder to win on US soil, but I’m honoured to be tasked with the mission. I was lucky enough to be part of the first European team to win on US soil at Colorado Golf Club in 2013 and so know what’s possible.

"The American team played extremely well at Gleneagles, but what we accomplished this year and what it meant to people all around the world, will serve as further motivation. I’m excited to get down to business, build the next team and see what Europe is capable of at Inverness Club. It’s a very Scottish name, so I’m hoping that’s a good omen!"

The next edition of the Solheim Cup takes place at Inverness Club in Toledo, Canada, and Matthew has kept her dream team for 2021 as she has retained Suzann Pettersen, Dame Laura Davies and Kathryn Imrie as her three vice-captains.

Rugby

Lydia Thompson was the England shero as she scored a last-gasp try to give the Roses a dramatic 17-15 win over France at Sandy Park in Exeter.

Just a week after a Sarah Hunter brace helped England to a 20-10 win away in Clermont, Thompson dived over in the final minute to make it back-to-back wins for the Roses.

Laure Sansus and Caroline Boujard scored tries as Les Bleus built a 15-12 lead with 15 minutes to go, but it wasn't to be for the visitors.

In other results, Scotland beat Wales 17-3 and while Japan and Italy drew 17-17.

Tennis

The 2019 WTA season is officially done and dusted and while some are spending time on beaches, others are braving sub-zero temperatures and scaling great heights.

Former world No 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza falls into the latter category as she took a five-day trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

And when she reached the peak.

Of course after the hard work it was time for some fun on the beach in Tanzania.

By Shahida Jacobs, editor of Tennis365.com


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