BIRMINGHAM, England — Star batsman Tahlia McGrath tested positive for COVID-19 but was cleared to help Australia win the first Commonwealth Games gold medal awarded in women’s cricket, defeating India by nine runs in Sunday’s final at Edgbaston.
Top-ranked Australia were pushed to the brink by India, who were superbly led by captain Harmanpreet Kaur, before claiming seven wickets in the last five overs for victory.
There was drama in the middle of Australia’s matches when the team confirmed that McGrath had tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the match.
Had the match been played in Australia, McGrath could not have played. But Commonwealth Games rules for participation are more relaxed to match regulations around coronavirus protocols in the host country, England.
McGrath reported mild symptoms to team management before the final and returned a positive test, but was cleared to play by the International Cricket Council and also by the Commonwealth Games Foundation.
Australian team officials said medical staff “implemented a comprehensive set of protocols” during and after the match to minimize the risk of transmission.
This led to an unusual moment at the start of India’s innings as they chased down Australia’s total of 161-8.
After taking a crucial catch in the third over, McGrath had to wave her teammates away as they gathered to celebrate the moment. She had to isolate herself after the game as her teammates celebrated the win.
With Kaur at the crease, India looked to have a strong chance of reaching Australia’s target.
But when she was out for 65, the momentum swung back to Australia and India were bowled out for 152.
Australian fast bowler Megan Schutt said the team knew about McGrath’s positive test and were all happy to play alongside her.
“She feels absolutely fine, so I think the positive result was an absolute shock to her,” Schutt said. “Maybe the weirdest part of all was not celebrating with him.”
Australia became the first nation to reach 1,000 all-time Commonwealth Games gold medals — including 66 in Birmingham — when the top-ranked Diamonds beat Jamaica 55-51 in a hard-fought netball final to gain revenge for a phase group loss.
With one day of competition remaining, Australia held a decisive lead in the medal standings over second-placed England, who had 55 gold medals and 166 medals overall.
Also on Sunday, and just a week after England’s women’s football team won the European Championship, its women’s hockey team won its first Commonwealth Games title.
It was lucky seventh for England, who beat four-time champions Australia 2-1 in the final.
In the six previous editions where women’s hockey has been played at the Games, England have won either silver or bronze medals.
The crowd was already chanting “Hockey’s coming home,” a twist on a popular song usually associated with soccer, when Australia scored its only goal with 19 seconds remaining.
Australian rider Georgia Baker won the women’s road race, giving her three gold medals for the Games, and New Zealand’s Aaron Gate won his fourth cycling gold medal of the Games, displaying his incredible agility to win the road race for men.
The 31-year-old Gate also won the individual and team pursuits as well as the points race and he is the first cyclist from New Zealand to win four gold medals in one Games.
“This is a special thing, making history,” he said. “It gives a challenge to other Kiwis to go for that record in the years to come.”
Australia’s two-time world champion javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber again played the waiting game to perfection. Having added the 2022 world championships title in Oregon last month to her success in Doha in 2019, Barber was a hot favorite to win her first Commonwealth gold.
But on the eve of the opening ceremony on July 28, she tested positive for COVID-19, putting her in isolation and casting doubt on her participation. She was cleared to compete on Thursday.
“Mentally, I made it,” she said. “I wasn’t going to let it affect my performance today.”
She saved her best shot for last.
Behind her teammate Mackenzie Little, who threw a personal best of 64.27 meters, Barber responded with an effort of 64.43 meters to win gold on her sixth and final attempt.
England won gold as the men’s 4x100m relay team raced to victory over Trinidad and Tobago and Nigeria.
Zharnel Hughes rallied from second in the 200m final on Saturday night to produce a strong second leg as he grabbed the lead for England, clocking 38.35sec.
Nigeria won gold in the women’s 4×100 relay, with Jamaican champion Elaine Thompson-Herah finishing strong as the anchor to win bronze for her nation.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem threw a meet record 90.18m to win the javelin gold, relegating two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada to silver with a mark of 88.64 and Kenya’s Julius Yego to bronze. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra of India missed the event due to an injury sustained while winning silver at the world championships last month.
Victories in the women’s 4×400 relay, after England were disqualified for a lane violation, and in the women’s beach volleyball final helped lift Canada to 26 gold medals and 91 overall in third place after 11 days of competition. The Canadians were seven golds ahead of New Zealand and eight ahead of fifth-place India.
