Have you hear of a stand-in coin tosser? Australia captain Meg Lanning just introduced one

Australia captain Meg Lanning pulled a rabbit out of the hat when she asked wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy to accompany her to the field for the toss at the North Sydney Oval on Sunday when the hosts took on Sri Lanka in the first T20I.

With a horrific record with the coin toss, Lanning got Healy at the ground for the toss to try her luck. Earlier this month, when the Aussies toured West Indies, Lanning managed just to win just the solitary toss.

At the time of the toss here on Sunday, there was Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy and Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapaththu. Healy flipped the coin and won the toss for Lanning. We have heard of a stand-in captain but seldom has anyone heard of stand-in tosser. Alyssa Healy was the stand-in tosser during the first T20I, courtesy Meg Lanning’s poor run with the coin toss.  

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Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma shine in India’s 11-run win over South Africa in the first T20

Riding on Deepti Sharma’s brilliant bowling performance and Harmanpreet Kaur’s strong batting display, Women in Blue managed to sneak in a victory from the jaws of defeat against the Proteas on Tuesday at Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat, Gujarat.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the visitors put up a good show as they restricted the hosts to a gettable 130-8 in 20 overs. For India, the top performer with the bat was its skipper Harmanpreet Kaur who struck a delightful 43 (34) smashing three boundaries and two sixes. 15-year old Shafali Verma who has given the responsibility of opening the batting has to fill in the big shoes of former captain Mithali Raj. However the child prodigy failed to impress as she was outdone by Shabnim Ismail. Verma made her way back to the dugout without troubling the scorers. For the Proteas, Ismail was the pick of the bowlers as she struck with 3-26 in her four overs.

Chasing a modest 131, South Africa would have fancied their chances. However, the strong spinning combination of India trapped the visiting batters in a web thus reducing them to 119 in 19.5 overs. The spin trio of Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Yadav picked up eight wickets among them, with pace spearhead Shikha Sharma accounting for the remaining two. Mignon du Preez (59) was the lone warrior in the fight and was just a stone’s throw away from taking her side home.

Overall, it was a thrilling contest between the two sides. The second of the three T20s will be played at the same venue on Thursday.

Two questions that the Indian team might grapple with before the second T20:

1. Should Jemimah Rodrigues open the innings and child prodigy Shafali Verma bat in the middle order?
2. Do the pacers alone have enough gas to run through the opposition's batting line-up if the spinners do not chip in?

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Women's Ashes: England end the Ashes with dignity; Australia hold on to the Ashes yet again

The Women's Ashes was concluded on Wednesday when the two sides locked horns for the one last time at Bristol in the third T20. Apart from academic interest and an opportunity for England to redeem itself the match was a dead rubber. 

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, Australia reduced England to 139-5 in 20 overs. Lauren Winfield top scored with an unbeaten 26 and was supported well by Katherine Brunt (25 not out) helping England to post a respectable score on board. Jess Jonassen finished with the best figures for the visitors with 1-19 in her four overs.

Chasing 140, the Aussies were dwindled down for 122-8 in 20 overs falling short of 17 runs. Riding on Ellyse Perry's unbeaten 60, the defending champions failed to chase down the target. England put up a solid performance with the ball, courtesy Katherine Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone, who picked up three wickets apiece. 

The Women's Ashes turned out to be a one-sided affair and the mighty Australians defended the Ashes yet again with the points table reading 12-4 in Australia's favour. Australia won the ODI series 3-0, T20 series 2-1, and the one-off test ended in a draw.

 
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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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