Tammy Beaumont set the new record for most runs scored in an innings by a woman for England, scoring an impressive 208. It made her the country’s first double-centurion. However, Australia are still in a stronger position in the one-off Test in the Ashes series.

In tennis, Carlos Alcaraz reached the Queen’s Club ATP final and is closing in on regaining his world No 1 title.

Petra Kvitova has reached her 42nd tour final, and will play Donna Vekic for the title in Berlin. Alexander Bublik dispatched Alexander Zverev to make the Halle final, while Barbora Krejcikova and Jelena Ostapenko will compete for the trophy in Birmingham.

Zimbabwe beat the West Indies in a World Cup qualifier match, but the Netherlands ended Nepal’s hopes of making it to the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in October.

Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for June 25, 2023:

Australia in command of Ashes

Tammy Beaumont’s 208 set the highest ever Test score for England women but Australia ended Saturday on top of the one-off Ashes Test with a 92-run lead and all 10 second innings wickets in hand.

Resuming on 100 not out, Beaumont carved her name into the record books by surpassing Betty Snowball’s 189 against New Zealand in February 1935 as the previous best by an England player.

The 32-year-old successfully overturned an lbw decision given against her on 152 and also had a reprieve on Friday when Australia failed to review a catch that would have been out on 61.

“What a day!” Beaumont told the BBC. I wasn’t aware of that milestone, that’s why I didn’t want to celebrate it and we still needed runs.

“It’s a great accolade to have but for me it was about getting as close to the Aussies score as possible.”

At one stage Beaumont’s brilliance looked set to give the hosts a first innings lead at Trent Bridge.

Natalie Sciver-Brunt made 78 and Danni Wyatt 44 as England reached 411-5.

But the second half of the day belonged to the visitors as the final five wickets fell for 52 runs with Beaumont the last woman out.

Australia then pressed home their slender advantage as Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield reached 82-0 in the final 19 overs of the day.

Wimbledon warm-up

Alcaraz in Queen’s Club final

Carlos Alcaraz moved to the brink of his first grass court title and reclaiming the world No 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic after sweeping aside Sebastian Korda to reach the final at Queen’s Club on Saturday, admitting he felt like a 10-year veteran on the surface.

The 20-year-old Spaniard came through 6-3, 6-4 and will face Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who beat second seed Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (2), in Sunday’s final.

Playing in just his third grass court tournament, Alcaraz has adapted quickly to the conditions after a tough first round clash against French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech.

The US Open champion had to recover from a slow start as he was broken for the only time in the opening game.

But Korda was let down by double faults at key moments as Alcaraz broke back immediately and edged a tight first set after breaking again in the eighth game.

The second set was more straightforward for Alcaraz who broke to love in the third game and comfortably served it out.

Kvitova in 42nd final

Petra Kvitova on Saturday reached her 42nd tour final in Berlin where she will face Donna Vekic for the title.

After the quarter-finals of the grass-court tournament were washed out on Friday, two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova defeated Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-6 (3) and then unseeded ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-4.

Vekic knocked out lucky loser Elina Avanesyan 6-2, 7-6 (0) and sixth seeded Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-6 (8) to book a place in her 12th career final.

Vekic came from 2-0 and 5-3 down in the second set against Sakkari before sealing victory on a fourth match point.

Bublik through to Halle final

Alexander Bublik eased past home hope Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-5 to reach the final of the Halle ATP tournament.

Bublik, 26, will play his first final of the season in the Wimbledon warm-up grass-court event against Russia’s Andrey Rublev who knocked out Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4.

Kazakh Bublic won his only title last year in Montpellier against Zverev and now holds a 3-1 record against the German.

On Saturday, Bublik took less than an hour and a half to dispatch the former world number two, firing down 14 aces with a strong service game.

Krejcikova, Ostapenko in Birmingham final

Top two seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Jelena Ostapenko will meet in the final of the Birmingham Open after coming through their semi-finals in contrasting fashion on Saturday.

Krejcikova has been untouchable so far this week. The world No 12 is yet to drop a set as she eased past China’s Zhu Lin 6-3, 6-2.

“I’m really happy with the way I played today,” said the 2021 French Open champion.

“It’s always difficult to play on the grass because the game can change quickly, so I’m happy how I handled the match and that I’m in the final.”

By contrast, Ostapenko has been taken to a deciding set in all four of her matches in Birmingham, but has battled through to reach her first final of the season.

The Latvian came from behind after dropping the opening set to fourth seed Anastasia Potapova to win 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Zimbabwe beat West Indies in World Cup qualifiers

Zimbabwe stunned West Indies by 35 runs in a crucial World Cup qualifying triumph on Saturday while the Netherlands ended Nepal’s hopes of reaching the global showpiece for the first time.

The Dutch side’s seven-wicket win guaranteed a Super Sixes place and also meant that both Zimbabwe and two-time champions West Indies were assured of their places in the next round.

However, Zimbabwe will have the advantage of taking the two points from Saturday’s win with them into the next stage which features the top three sides from the two groups of five.

Zimbabwe, put into bat, made 268 with Sikandar Raza top scoring with 68 from 58 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes.

Ryan Burl added a crucial 50 with five fours and a six after Zimbabwe had been 112-4 at one stage while skipper Craig Ervine made 47 at the top of the order.

In reply, West Indies were well-placed at 134-3 before they lost seven wickets for just 99 runs.

Opener Kyle Mayers top scored with 56 off 72 balls featuring eight fours and a six.

In the middle order, captain Shai Hope (30), Nicolas Pooran (34) and Roston Chase (44) all got starts but Tendai Chatara (3-52) and man of the match Raza (2-36) applied the brakes as the West Indies were dismissed for 233 in the 45th over.

With text inputs from AFP

Updated through the day