Australia celebrate

Australia take 12-0 lead over England in Women’s Ashes thanks to exceptional Mooney

A brilliant Beth Mooney knock helped guide Australia to a mammoth 72-run victory over England as they extended their lead in the Women’s Ashes to 12-0.

Mooney’s 94* was at the heart of her country’s efforts but Australia’s 162-5 seemed a fraction light at the halfway stage.

However, the visitor’s only resistance with the bat was Heather Knight, who finished on 40. Danni Wyatt-Hodge was the only other batter to make double figures, while Georgia Wareham took impressive figures of 3-11.

The possibility of England being whitewashed continues to rise with the Test remaining their only hope for points.

Spin to win for England

After the home side elected to bat first, England revealed wholesale changes at the toss, with Lauren Bell (illness), Maia Bouchier and Sarah Glenn dropping out for Alice Capsey, Linsey Smith and Lauren Filer. Australia’s only change was that Darcie Brown replaced Kim Garth.

Smith was in action immediately, constricting Australia with the new ball before Freya Kemp and Filer let the pressure slip, a similar story to the two previous T20Is.

However, England’s spinners combined brilliantly to help stem the flow of runs at the backend of the powerplay. This culminated in Capsey making the breakthrough. Georgia Voll looked to put pressure back on England, but she could only find Wyatt-Hodge at deep midwicket, falling for 23.

Filer returned for another loose over in the ninth, conceding the first boundary in five overs, before England slowed the hosts down again after drinks.

Sophie Ecclestone returned with great effect after the break. She bowled Phoebe Litchfield for 12, then almost got Mooney two balls later. England’s review for LBW was turned down, however, and the following over saw the opener reach her half-century.

Mooney continues her brilliance

Mooney then exploded, making the most of her platform. She took down Capsey the following over before hitting Smith for her first boundary of the day to boost Australia to 119-2 after 15 overs.

Ellyse Perry was unable to make an impact, chipping Dean to cover. A promoted Georgia Harris then smashed Australia’s first six of the match, but her stay at the crease was short, picking out short fine leg with a scoop. Annabel Sutherland similarly didn’t last long as she gave catching practice to Nat Sciver-Brunt on the cow corner boundary.

With Mooney still at the crease, Australia were dangerous. She continued to accumulate without any risk but was left just shy of her hundred. Batting through the innings, the opener carried her country to 162, but the lack of a substantial knock around her meant for the first time this series, Australia left something out on the field.

England embarrassingly collapse in a heap

England’s new opening partnership was unable to buck the troubled trend. Sophia Dunkley’s dismissal marked the fifth time England’s opening partnership has been broken for under 15.

Interspersed by wickets, Wyatt-Hodge continually carved the Australian seamers over and through point during the powerplay, leading England to 39-3. However, both Capsey and Sciver-Brunt found themselves back at the pavilion before the sixth over.

Capsey tickled a sweep down the leg side, while Sutherland got Sciver-Brunt with a peach. It angled in, nipped away and clipped the top of off: perfection.

Wyatt-Hodge continued on the offensive but was soon dismissed by Georgia Wareham for 17. The wickets continued to tumble, with Jones, Kemp and Dean all falling cheaply while looking to be aggressive. England found themselves 48-7 and closing in on their lowest T20I total ever.

Ecclestone partnered Knight at the crease for a while but a spectacular catch from Voll broke England’s most significant partnership.

Smith then barbequed herself looking to get off strike, leaving England 82-9, five runs short of their lowest total in WT20I history.

A defiant knock from Knight took England above the record-low total of 87 but she soon fell and England were all out for 90 – their second-lowest total in WT20I cricket ever.

What next for England?

Just one match remains in the series: a one-off Test. The MCG will play host to this clash as England look to finally lay their hands on a point.

Jon Lewis discussed how they key for his side in the Test will be consistency, both with bat and ball.

He said: “Consistency of execution with the ball [will be key]. If we can do that over a longer period of time, I think that is something that we’ll work hard on and understanding the change of tempo of cricket. I think that’s really important.

“We always want to play aggressive cricket. We want to play cricket on the front foot. We want to try and win games of cricket. And so understanding the right tempo to play out with the bat and how to combat what’s been put up in front of us, I think would be really important.

“Because they don’t have a lot of experience of doing it, sometimes the ebbs and flows of a cricket match in longer form cricket is quite hard for them to work out.

“So we will be working very hard around mindset and approach because we don’t have time to do technique and volume, because we’ve got two, maybe three practice sessions.”

A win for England would be a silver lining to their black mist of a tour but it is also crucial in minimising the embarrassment for them. At best, they can equal the largest victory of margin in a Women’s Ashes (12-4); at worst, they will break that record, losing 14-2 or even being whitewashed 16-0.

Broadcast Schedule

India v England White ball series
IND v ENG 2nd ODI, Cuttack
9th February
Start time: 8:00 am GMT
IND v ENG 3rd ODI, Ahmedebad
12th February
Start time: 8:00 am GMT