2nd Vitality Women’s IT20: England keep series alive with 3 run victory
England Women secured their 1st victory of the multi-format Ashes series after a 3-run victory in the 2nd Vitality Women’s IT20.
Danni Wyatt starred with the bat, scoring 76 as England set Australia 187 to win.
Despite an 8th International T20 half-century for Ellyse Perry, Australia could not chase down England’s total.
The number one Women’s International T20 bowler Sophie Ecclestone brought up her 100th wicket in an England shirt.
This result means England have scored their first points in the multi-format series and now trail by 6 points to 2.
England innings
England women started their innings well with a 50 partnership in the opening powerplay, with early boundaries for Sophia Dunkley and Wyatt.
However, amid their bright start, Dunkley was dropped by Tahlia McGrath off the bowling of Megan Schutt.
The opening partnership didn’t last much longer. Dunkley departed for 23, caught at cover by McGrath off the bowling of Darcie Brown.
That brought Nat Sciver-Brunt who joined Wyatt and brought a calmness to the crease, scoring two early boundaries off the bowling of Annabel Sutherland.
Sciver-Brunt brought England past the 100-run mark with a pull shot for 4 to the mid-wicket boundary.
Despite this, she departed the next ball. Sciver-Brunt chipped the ball to Sutherland at long-on off the bowling of Ashleigh Gardner for 23.
That brought a further flurry of England wickets as Alice Capsey and Heather Knight departed off Sutherland’s bowling in successive deliveries.
In spite of wickets falling around her, Wyatt continued to anchor the innings with some elegant stroke play.
This didn’t stop a middle-order England collapse as Amy Jones and Danielle Gibson departed for single figure scores off the bowling of McGrath and Ellyse Perry respectively.
In the midst of this Wyatt brought up her 50, pulling a short ball for four off the bowling of Perry.
Wyatt then hit the accelerator as she hit four successive boundaries of Megan Schutt.
The ball after Wyatt brought up England’s 150 with her 13th boundary of the innings, she departed. Georgia Wareham caught her at third man off the bowl of Sutherland having made an invaluable 76.
After some useful late order runs from Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn, England finished their innings on 186-9, leaving Australia 187 to retain the Ashes.
Australia innings
In reply, a strong opening stand of 58 in the opening powerplay from openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney set Australia off to the perfect start.
The end of the powerplay brought about England’s first wicket. Glenn picked up the wicket of Healy, bowled for 37.
Soon after, a bizarre mix up from the Australian batsman resulted in England’s second wicket. Mooney hits the ball just short of Charlie Dean, but McGrath has set off for a run. By the time Dean collects and throws, McGrath is halfway down the crease and is left helpless as Jones flicks the bails off.
The next over brought about England’s third wicket. Gibson picks up the dangerous Mooney. The Australian opener hooks her shit straight into the hands of Wyatt for 22.
The next over brings another wicket and another milestone in the career of Ecclestone. She picked up the wicket of Gardner, caught and bowled, and in doing so took her 100th International T20 wicket.
After Dean picked up the wicket of Grace Harris for 9, Perry and Sutherland steadied the ship for Australia as they built a useful partnership.
But just as they looked like they might be building some momentum, Glenn breaks the partnership. She picked up the wicket of Sutherland for 20, caught at extra cover by England captain Knight.
Just as the game seemed to be slipping away, Wareham hit Dean for three successive boundaries, including two successive sixes to bring Australia back into the tie.
However, Lauren Bell put a stop to that as she bowled Wareham for 19.
Despite Perry reaching her 8th International T20 half-century off the final ball of the innings, Ecclestone did enough to seal the win for England as well as picking up the wicket of Jess Jonassen for 6, meaning that England picked up their first victory of the series by 3 runs.
Australia now leads the series 6-2 heading into Saturday’s 3rd Vitality IT20 at Lord’s.
