England’s Tammy Beaumont says becoming the number one ranked batter in one-day cricket is a dream come true.
Beaumont, 29, moved to the top of the rankings for the first time in her 12-year career on Tuesday after making 231 in three innings during England’s 2-1 series win against New Zealand.
The opener carried on that form by top-scoring for England in their T20 victory over New Zealand on Friday.
“It’s a bit surreal,” Beaumont told BBC Sport’s The Cricket Social.
“I found out the night before the first Twenty20 [(which was on Wednesday)] and it’s an amazing thing because it’s always been a dream of mine.
“It is certainly an amazing thing and it feels great.
“All the team have been really supportive and I got a lot of hugs – which we’re lucky to be allowed to do out here in New Zealand.”
The series was the first one-day cricket England had played since the 3-0 defeat against Australia in July 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Beaumont says she did not expect to score so many runs.
In the ongoing Twenty20 series against New Zealand, she has posted scores of 25 and 63 in the first two games as England took an unassailable 2-0 series lead with a six-wicket win on Friday.
“It’s gone really well and I’m really happy to be contributing to the team,” Beaumont added.
“To play some of the knocks I did in the one-day series – making sure I did the anchor role, not giving my wicket away, and have the team batting around me, that was great.
“I’ve been pretty settled in how I go about my one-day game for a while now and I’m really happy with how that goes. I know my game inside out.
“I guess the way it has come off on the pitch has been really good and it’s nice to see that the hard work pays off and I’m very happy with how my cricket is going.”
