Women's Ashes: With 1000 runs and 100 wickets Ellyse Perry makes history; Australia take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in T20 series

Australia seems to have a gala time in England as the team records yet another win against England in the on-going Ashes series. A clinical performance in the ODI series, a comprehensive show in the longest format, and a envious start to the T20 series amplify Australia's dominance in the Ashes. 

With 1-0 lead in the T20 series, the two teams locked horns on Sunday at Hove. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, England posted a paltry 121-8 in 20 overs. Apart from Tammy Beaumont (43), none of the English players looked in shape. The Aussie bowling seemed to be too good for the hosts. Jess Jonassen and Georgia Wareham picked up couple of wickets apiece with Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, and Delissa Kimmince contributing with one scalp each. 

Chasing a modest score of 122, Australia achieved the feat in style winning the match by seven wickets and 13 balls to spare. The star performer of the day was the prolific all-rounder Ellyse Perry who scored an unbeaten 47 and joining hands with Perry was the skipper Meg Lanning with an equally blistering 43. Kate Cross, Katherine Brunt, and Sophie Ecclestone picked up one wicket apiece.

During the match, Ellyse Perry with her 1-17 and 47 not out became the first ever cricketer (both male and female) to score 1000 runs and pick up 100 wickets in T20 internationals. She also bagged the Player of the Match award for her scintillating all-round performance. 

The last match of the T20 series and also the Ashes series will be played on Wednesday at Bristol. Though a dead rubber, England would look to close the series with some pride.

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Women's Ashes: Centurion Meg Lanning steers Australia to a 93-win over England in the first T20

After having clinched the three-match ODI series 3-0 and drawing the one-off test, the defending champions Australia seem to show no mercy towards the lack luster English side as the visitors handed a 93-run defeat to the hosts on Friday at Chelmsford in the first of three T20s.

Winning the toss and electing to field first, England went for far too plenty as the mighty Aussies packed a punched with a formidable 226-3 in 20 overs. Leading from the front, Australia skipper Meg Lanning scored an unbeaten 133 (63) smashing as many as 17 boundaries and seven sixes. Beth Mooney (54) and Ashleigh Gardner (27) played couple of useful cameos to take the Aussies past 200.  The English bowlers looked hapless as they were hammered all over the park. Among the wickets were slow left arm bowler Sophie Ecclestone who struck with 2-42 in her four overs and Kate Cross who picked up 1-28 in her three. 

Considering a decent English batting line-up, the fans expected it to be a exciting contest. However, the match turned out to be a lopsided affair as the English side was dwindled down to 133-9 in 20 overs, falling short of 93 runs. The openers Danielle Wyatt and Amy Ellen Jones went back to the dug out without troubling the scorers. The fact that just four English players managed to score a double digit figure shows the dominance enjoyed by the Australian bowlers. Lauren Winfield top scored with 33. For the visitors, Megan Schutt was the pick of the bowlers as she scalped 3-25 in her four overs, receiving good support from Ellyse Perry who struck with 2-11 in her three. 

Meg Lanning was awarded as the Player of the Match for her scintillating knock of 133. Having defended the Ashes quite comfortably, Australia will take on England in the second T20 on Sunday at Hove. The remaining two T20s will be nothing more than dead rubber.

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Women's Ashes: England not even close to Australia’s “Perry”phery; one off test ends in a draw

The defending champions Australia retained the Ashes as the one-off test that was played between July 18 and July 21 at Taunton ended in a draw, with the visitors taking an unassailable lead of 8-2 over the hosts.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Australia posted a mammoth 420-8 in 154.4 overs. Opener Alyssa Healy provided a perfect start to the day as she muscled a 81-ball 58 smashing 12 boundaries. The loss of her partner Nicole Bolton did not hurt much as skipper Meg Lanning (57) and all-rounder Ellyse Perry (116) put their heads down to send England on back foot. After the fall of Lanning and Perry, England would have thought to take a breather, but Rachael Haynes (87) and Beth Mooney (51) were in no mood to let it loose. Finally the Aussies decided to declare the innings after Mooney was out. The English bowlers had a tough outing with the ball as none of their bowlers looked to break the long Aussie partnerships. Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, and Laura Marsh picked up two wickets apiece, with Natalie Sciver and Kirstie Gordon striking with one dismissal each.

To go ahead the 420-run mark set by Australia, special effort was required from England. However, Perry clean bowled the in-form opening bat Tammy Beaumont which put the hosts in a predicament, whether to play out the innings or try to surpass 420 runs. Amy Ellen Jones (64), the other opener partnered with skipper Heather Knight (28) to put up a 79-run partnership. After the loss of Knight, England’s chances to stay in the match looked bleak. However Natalie Sciver (88) steadied the sinking ship as she played a patient 180-ball knock. England kept losing wickets at regular intervals with half of their back in the hut inside 50 overs. 21 year old Sophie Molineux wrecked havoc with her slow left arm bowling as she scalped 4-95 in her 37 overs. Jess Jonassen picked up 2-50 in 21.1 overs with Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner striking with one wicket each. England scored 275-9 in 107.1 overs at the end of first innings.

Batting again, riding on Perry’s unbeaten 76, Australia posted 230-7 in 64 overs. Laura Marsh again picked up two wickets, with Kirstie Gordon and Heather Knight also bagging couple of wickets each. May be wanting to replicate Aussie Sophie’s success, English Sophie was asked to open the attack. Ecclestone struck with 1-37 in her 16 overs. 

Australia’s Ellyse Perry was presented with the Player of the Match for scoring 116 and 76 not out and picking up one wicket.

The test ended in a draw. The four points were shared by the two teams equally. The two sides will lock horns in a three-match T20 series starting July 26 at Chelmsford. Even if England wins all the three T20s and equals with Australia’s 8 points, the visitors will still retain the Ashes. 

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Women’s Ashes: Australia dominate the ODI series to win 3-0 against England

The visiting Australian team under Meg Lanning has shown no mercy as they embarrassed the otherwise strong looking England side with a 3-0 defeat in the ODI series that concluded on Sunday in their own backyard.

Winning the first two ODIs clinically, the Aussies came out even stronger in the third ODI at Canterbury. Batting first, Australia put up a challenging score of 269-7 in 50 overs. Riding on twin half centuries from Alyssa Healy (68) and Meg Lanning (69), the visitors were in a commanding position at the end of the first innings. For England, it was only Natalie Sciver (3-51) who stood out with the ball.

Chasing 270, England would have liked the top order to fire, but Aussie spearhead Ellyse Perry had some other plans. Perry wrecked havoc with the new ball as she reduced England to 10-4 in 5.2 overs. Fran Wilson (17), Anya Shrubsole (11), and Laura Marsh (21) were the only English three players to reach a double digit score. Perry ended up with magnificent figures of 7-22 in her 10 overs. Megan Schutt (2-21) and Jess Jonassen (1-15) also joined the Perry party. To England’s horror, they were bundled out for a paltry 75 in 32.5 overs, losing the match by a mammoth margin of 194 runs.

Record breaking Ellyse Perry won the Player of the Match for her breath-taking bowling performance. Australia won the ODI series 3-0 pocketing 6 points. The two sides will meet for the one off test starting July 18 at Taunton. England will have to win all the remaining matches to regain the Ashes.      

Brief Scores:  Australia 269-7 in 50 overs (M Lanning 69; N Sciver 3-51) beat England 75 all out in 32.5 overs (L Marsh 21; E Perry 7-22) by 194 runs

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Women's Ashes: Tammy Beaumont's century goes in vain as Aussies take an unassailable lead of 2-0 against England

Opening bat Tammy Beaumont's century went in vain as England failed to defend 217 in the second ODI of the Ashes series against Australia on Thursday at Leicester. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, England would have like to put a score over 250, but the regular fall of wickets did not help their cause. Beaumont (114) was the lone warrior scoring more than half of the runs put up by her side. Delissa Kimmince was the star performer with the ball as she picked up a fifer giving away just 26 runs in 7.4 overs.

In reply, the visitors chased down the target in 45.2 overs keeping four wickets in hand. After the initial hiccups, the Aussies applied themselves well with Ellyse Perry (620) and Rachael Haynes (30) stitching a 53-run partnership to put their side in a comfortable position. However all was not lost for the hosts as they reduced Australia for 158-6 in 35.4 overs. With 60 runs to get and four wickets in hand, the match could have gone any way. But to Aussies' delight Beth Mooney (43 not out) and Jess Jonassen (31 not out) played matured knocks to see their team home. With the ball, Anya Shrubsole was the pick of the bowlers as she scalped 3-47 in her eight overs.

Australia's Delissa Kimmince bagged the Player of the Match award for her scintillating bowling performance.

After two ODIs, the defending champions Australia lead the points table 4-0. The two sides will lock horn against each other for the dead rubber on Sunday at Canterbury.


Brief Scores: England 217 all out in 47.4 overs (T Beaumont 114; D Kimmince 5-26) lost to Australia 218-6 in 45.2 overs (E Perry 62; A Shrubsole 3-47) by 4 wickets


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Women’s Ashes: Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy star in Australia’s win over England in the first ODI

The Ashes is back and this time the urn is in England. The defending champions Australia will look to retain their might over the Ashes while the hosts England will look for redemption. Unlike the men’s Ashes, women’s Ashes will be a composition of three ODIs, one test and three T20s. The winner of the Ashes will be judged on the basis of points each team earns during the series.

The first ODI was played on Tuesday at Leicester when the visiting Australians got the better of England in a nail biting finish. Batting first, England were bundled out for a paltry 177 in 46.5 overs, courtesy a brilliant bowling performance from the Aussies. Ellyse Perry spearheaded the bowling attack and ripped apart the English line-up as she finished off with figures of 3-43 in her seven overs. Perry found able allies in Megan Schutt, Jess Jonassen, and Ashleigh Gardner, each of them accounting for two scalps. England got off to a horrendous start as they were found wanting at 19-4 in 5.1 overs. Natalie Sciver (64) batted like a champion and stitched couple of good partnerships with Fran Wilson (15) and Katherine Brunt (20) to help her side put up a decent total on board.

Chasing an ordinary score of 178 should not have been a tough ask for the powerful batters of Australia. However, England after a horrific batting performance came out all guns blazing to put the visitors in all spots of bother. Opening bat Nicole Bolton (2) was sent back to the pavilion by Anya Shrubsole, and the Aussies kept losing wickets at the regular intervals. Wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy stood like a rock and played well for her 71-ball 66. Healy kept losing wickets at the other end. The match went all the way down the wire as Australia somehow managed to sneak in a victory by two wickets. Sophie Ecclestone was the pick of the bowlers for England as she grabbed 3-34 in her 10 overs.

Ellyse Perry was awarded with the Player of the Match for her outstanding bowling performance. The two sides meet on Thursday at the same venue for the second ODI. After the first ODI, Australia leads the points table 2-0.

Brief Scores: England 177 all out in 46.5 overs (N Sciver 64, E Perry 3-43) lost to Australia 178-8 in 42.3 overs (A Healy 66, S Ecclestone 3-34) by 2 wickets

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Women’s T20 set to be included in Common Wealth Games 2022

There is some good news for women’s cricket. Women’s T20 is all set to be included in the Common Wealth Games 2022 in England. The inclusion of women’s cricket in an event as big as the CWG is absolutely unicorn. Eight teams will be featuring in the competition. This move will certainly give more exposure to the women cricketers and also popularize the sport in the non-cricket playing nations that will feature in CWG. As the talks of Women’s IPL are doing the rounds, the inclusion of Women’s T20 in CWG will certainly provide an impetus to these discussions. The success of Women’s Big Bash League in Australia and Kia Super League in England has brought limelight to the ‘other’ cricket.

The International Cricket Council the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have had a lion’s in the inclusion of Women’s T20 in CWG. The last time cricket was included in CWG was way back in 1998, when 16 men’s teams participated in a 50-over format at Kuala Lumpur. South Africa under the leadership of Shaun Pollock went on to bag the gold medal as they defeated the mighty Aussies in the final.

Let’s see how the women’s cricket pans out in the Common Wealth Games of 2022.

Source: AFP