England Women won the ODI Ashes series against Australia Women on July 18 (Tuesday). On the back of an attractive century from Nat Sciver-Brunt, the Three Lions downed the Baggy Greens by a massive margin of 69 runs in a rain-affected match at The Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton. As a result, the hosts won the ODI series by a margin of 2-1.
Batting first, England got off to a horrendous start after openers Sophia Dunkley (2) and Tammy Beaumont (4) were dismissed cheaply. At 12/2, the Three Lions needed a solid partnership to get their innings going and, captain Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt forged a solid alliance that resurrected England's floundering innings.
The duo combined for a 147-run partnership for the third wicket before Knight was dismissed for 67 runs off 72 balls. Alice Capsey (5) was dismissed cheaply before Danielle Wyatt joined forced with Nat Sciver-Brunt to take England's innings forward. The dup combined for a 66-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Wyatt played a fabulous cameo of 45 runs off 23 balls with the help of four fours and two sixes.
Nat Sciver-Brunt continued his assault on Aussie bowlers in the dying stages of England's total and was dismissed after scoring 129 runs off 149 balls with the help of 15 fours and one six. England posted a daunting score of 285/9 on the board in their 50 overs.
In their run chase, Australia's innings never got going as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The rain also played a big part as the target was revised and the Baggy Greens needed to chase 269 runs in 44 overs. Ellyse Perry (53 runs off 58 balls) was the only Aussie batter to score a half-century while Ashleigh Gardner chipped in with a knock of 41 runs off 24 balls. Other batters failed to make any significant contribution and Australia were bundled out for 199 runs in 35.4 overs.
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