Women's Ashes: Alice Capsey's imperious cameo helps England clinch rain-affected second T20I, Three Lions clinch series 2-1

In a rain-affected third T20I between England and Australia on July 8 (Saturday), the Three Lions registered a thrilling victory at the iconic Lord's cricket ground in London.

SportsTak

• Sun • 09 Jul 2023

In a rain-affected third T20I between England and Australia on July 8 (Saturday), the Three Lions registered a thrilling victory at the iconic Lord's cricket ground in London. Alica Capsey stole the show with an imperious knock of 46 runs off just 23 balls and took her team over the line. As a result, the England women's side clinched the three-match T20I series by a margin of 2-1.

With rain around, Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method kicked in and England required 119 runs in 14 overs to win the game. The Three Lions got off the blocks in a jiffy as openers Sophia Dunkley (nine runs off 10 balls) and Danielle Wyatt (26 runs off 15 balls) combined for 39 runs in 24 balls. Both opening batters departed in consecutive deliveries that gave Australia an opening to take command. Nat Sciver-Brunt (25 runs off 25 balls) and Capsey joined forces and eliminated any hopes of an Aussie victory.

The duo forged an alliance of 68 runs for the third wicket and the partnership was dominated by Capsey, who smacked four fours and two sixes in her knock. The right-handed batter played some attractive and audacious shots in her match-winning knock with the bat. Both Sciver-Brunt and Capsey failed to take their team to the promised land but they did enough for their team to register a win. England gunned down the target in 13.2 overs.

For Australia, Megan Schutt bagged two wickets while Darcie Brown, Jess Jonassen and Georgia Wareham picked a wicket each.

Earlier, on the back of some handy contributions from Beth Mooney (32 runs off 27 balls), Ashleigh Gardner (32 runs off 25 balls), Ellyse Perry (34 runs off 25 balls) and Grace Harris (25 runs off 15 balls), Australia posted a total of 155/7 in 20 overs. The Baggy Greens could have pushed their total to above 170 runs had any of the batters converted their mediocre score into a substantial knock.

For England, Sciver-Brunt was the pick of all bowlers and finished with figures of 2/31 in four overs. Charlotte Dean, Lauren Bell, Danielle Gibson and Sophie Ecclestone chipped in with a wicket each.