Righto, 8-6, one last two-pointer on Wednesday at the Manuka Oval once more. A marked improvement for England, who looked tired and a bit stodgy in their thinking for the make-or-break fixture that opened this T20 leg. Nevertheless, England have a chance to finish with an 8-8 draw, which at the very least would take a bit of gloss off Australia’s retaining of the Ashes.
Class from Katherine Brunt, who is eyeing up that World T20 at the backend of next year and put in a performance that suggests she might go into that tournament as England’s premiere allrounder. A punchy 32 not out, which featured the only two sixes in the first innings, was followed by a fantastic two for 10 from her four overs.
Thanks for your company. Have a great Sunday!
Oh, and I forgot to post this earlier. Nourish your soul with another Sarah Taylor special:
More brilliance behind the stumps from England's Sarah Taylor! #WomensAshes pic.twitter.com/nVAD1gLJLv
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) November 19, 2017
Some reactions, right off the bat:
Jenny Gunn's 4/13 are the 3rd best figures on Australian soil. Gunn is the first overseas player to take a T20I 4-fer in Australia. #WomensAshes# https://t.co/uf8DOf7rYr pic.twitter.com/7N7szCcGjk
— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) November 19, 2017
ENGLAND WIN BY 40 RUNS!
Strano b Gunn 3 (Australia 112 all out)
That’s all they wrote. England take the win as Strano tries another reverse sweep but gets nothing but air. Gunn nails off-stump for her fourth wicket and matters are level in the T20 series. In the grander scheme of things, it’s 8-6 in the multi-format points, with one final T20 to play. A strong finish with the bat has led into a very professional performance with the ball, triumphing with two overs to spare.
18th over: Australia 112 (Schutt 1*)
WICKET! Jonassen c Sciver by Gunn 11 (Australia 110-9)
Excellent grab from Nat Sciver! Jonassen decides to treat Jenny Gunn like a spinner, dropping to one knee and slog-sweeping a slower ball out to deep midwicket. Sciver has to gallop in and put in a dive to her right at the last moment to complete the dismissal.She made it look straightforward, but it was anything but.
17th over: Australia 110-8 (Jonassen 11, Strano 0)
“Molly Strano doesn’t like to stay still,” says Lisa Sthalekar, like a mother losing her rag with her kid. To be fair, it’s the good kind of not liking to stay still. Strano’s trying to be inventinve to get Jonassen on strike, switching her hands and trying to reverse dab a single to third man. She gets one, eventually, to deep square leg, allowing Jonassen to swing and edge for... just three! Excellent work from Tammy Beaumont saves a precious run. Good effort.
16th over: Australia 106-8 (Jonassen 8, Molly Strano 1)
Lovely hit from Jess Jonassen, down the ground, puts Gunn on the back foot. But she’s soon back in the game with a well-disguised off-cutter that brings off-spinner Molly Strano to the crease.
WICKET! Aley LBW Gunn 1 (Australia 104-8)
Sarah Aley steps across a bit too far as she tries to find a run on the leg side. Gunn traps her in front of middle and leg and barely manages to get to the “ZAAAAAAAT” of her appeal before the umpire raises his finger.
15th over: Australia 99-7 (Jonassen 3, Aley 1)
Brunt to finish her set of four and she does so in style, keeping Jonassen and Sarah Aley guessing and even giving Ecclestone a spray as a couple of leg byes are taken from her final ball. That’s an incredible spell of two for 10, with 15 dot balls in it!
14th over: Australia 93-7 (Jonassen 1)
Another cluster of wickets, just as the markets were starting to move back into the host’s favour. Ecclestone underlining her status as a bright spot for England from this tour...
WICKET! Kimmince b Ecclestone 17 (Australia 93-7)
Two in the over for Ecclestone! This one with her arm ball. Kimmince advances as the ball leaves the hand but it pitches and skids on, beating her swing and knocking back her off-stump.
WICKET! Haynes c Sciver b Ecclestone 14 (Ausralia 90-6)
And another! Just when Australia looked like they were regaining some initiative with 23 off the last two overs, Haynes charges and drives the left-arm spinner straight to Nat Sciver at cover!
Decent hit!
SIX! Kimmince makes the most of that full toss!
— Australian Women's Cricket Team 🏏 (@SouthernStars) November 19, 2017
Tune in to @Channel9 for the end of this run chase #WomensAshes pic.twitter.com/675esLHJHX
13th over: Australia 89-5 (Haynes 14, Kimmince 14)
Nat Sciver gets her first bowl of the innings. Like her real estate partner Brunt, she’s all about those cutters. Delissa Kimmince, in her first knock of the series, decides that she’s going to leave a mark. When Sciver over-pitches, Kimmince presses forward and turns it into a low full toss to whip it away over square leg for a huge six! All bottom-hand. All for it. 64 needed from 42 balls...
12th over: Australia 76-5 (Haynes 13, Kimmince 3)
Hazell to continue her battle with Rachel Haynes from around the wicket. There’s not enough pace on the ball for the left-hander to totally commit to hitting straight so, again, she’s on one knee and find runs behind the wicket, lapping around the corner to fine leg for two. So, Hazell pulls her length back, with is exactly what Haynes wants. The feet move to the ball, the hands reach across and four taken down the ground, over mid off. That’s sharp cricket from the Australia captain.
11th over: Australia 68-5 (Haynes 6, Kimmince 2)
Inspired from Brunt. She looked out of sorts in North Sydney, where she returned her worst economy rate of her career (11) and got a first-baller with the bat. Now, with runs under her belt, she’s got the ball on a piece of string. The leg-cutters are coming out superbly.
10th over: Australia 65-5 (Haynes 5)
Skipper Rachel Haynes gives a bit back, reverse sweeping the returning Hazell to nab a boundary behind square on the off side, with third man up in the circle. Smart cricket.
Australia have played 7 false shots this innings, and have lost 4 wickets - they've been astonishingly unlucky. #Womensashes
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) November 19, 2017
Make that eight, now. Shame from a neutrals perspective that Gardner’s gone. Her six was crisp, bat swung beautifully through the line of the ball and down the ground. Still very rough around the edges.
WICKET! Gardner c Brunt b Hazell 4 (Australia 65-5)
And another! England have their fifth wicket and it’s something of a gift from Gardner. Two balls after hitting the first six of the innings, she larrups one right to deep midwicket.
9th over: Australia 54-4 (Haynes 0, Gardner 2)
Oooooo so close to a wicket maiden. Brunt’s got the slower balls on tap and Australia have no answer. Perry’s dismissal is followed by four dots to Ashleigh Gardner. As the change-up, Brunt digs one in short and the right-hander manages to top edge down to fine leg for two. What a difference three overs make...
WICKET! Perry b Brunt 5 (Australia 52-4)
Make that four wickets for seven runs! This probably takes the gong for weirdest of the lot: Perry pulls Brunt onto her front foot, spinning back onto the stumps and meeting it with enough force to knock a bail off...
8th over: Australia 52-3 (Perry 5, Haynes 0)
Three wickets for four runs. Some collapse this! England find themselves in the middle order and with two new batsmen at the crease.
Amazing to think that the official abbreviation for a stumping is based on Sarah Taylor’s initials. #WomensAshes
— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) November 19, 2017
WICKET! Healy c Shrubsole b Gunn 24 (Australia 49-3)
Why has she done that?? Third ball of this first over from Jenny Gunn, having lost a couple of wickets in succession, Healy tries and fails to beat Anya Shrubsole, who is set back at long on.
7th over: Australia 48-2 (Healy 24, Perry 1)
New tactic with Brunt? On she comes with the Power Play done and dusted. The first ball is wide, but Taylor’s sharp work not only ensures there aren’t any extras but she also fools the umpire into not giving a wide down the leg side because of how crisply she took the ball.
If England win, Sarah Taylor = Player Of The Match. #womensAshes
— Raf Nicholson (@RafNicholson) November 19, 2017
WICKET! Villani st Taylor b Brunt 1 (Australia 47-2)
Hahahaha stop it Sarah Taylor! Katherine Brunt into the attack, Taylor up to the stumps. You know the drill. Villani advances and swings across the line but misses her pull shot completely, with the ball passing the under-edge of the bat. Bails off in a flash. Easy game for her...
6th over: Australia 47-1 (Healy 24, Villani 1)
Another change as Danielle Hazell comes into the attack. Immediately, she’s taking a return catch off Mooney but, criminally, from a no ball! How do you over-step off four paces?? Ah well, amends made as the free hit only goes for one and Mooney departs two balls later.
WICKET! Mooney run out Gunn 17 (Australia 45-1)
Not that England’s only hope seemed to be a run out, but... well... it was. Mooney times well (maybe too well) to mid off, where Jenny Gunn is able to swoop, pick up cleanly and throw down the stumps. Out by a foot.
5th over: Australia 42-0 (Mooney 16, Healy 22)
Make that four boundaries in a row as Beth Mooney starts this over with two on the bounce. Shrubsole starts full and gets put back over her own head. Correcting her line, she moves the ball outside off to the left-hander. But Mooney’s not bothered, dropping down to one knee and flicking the ball over backward square leg! Healy gets back the strike a few balls later and swats an inswinging delivery on middle stump over square leg for the third four of the over! Some hit...
4th over: Australia 27-0 (Healy 18, Mooney 7)
“I’m seeing them alright, but they’re not coming off the bat alright,” says Healy at the end of that over. Yeah... that might carry water, Alyssa, if you hadn’t clouted Ecclestone down the ground and then over extra cover for boundaries off the last two balls of that over...
3rd over: Australia 16-0 (Mooney 6, Healy 9)
Shrubsole’s returning from injury and, for the moment, she owes Taylor. Her first ball of this over could well have scuttled down the leg side for four, but a scuttle across and some sharp hands ensure it’s only one solitary by. Finds her line by the end to ensure there are only four more runs in the over...
2nd over: Australia 11-0 (Mooney 2, Healy 9)
Sophie Ecclestone, as she did in the first T20i. takes the new ball from the other end. Unfortunately for me, Healy’s in no mood for sighters, dancing down second ball to smoke her over wide mid off for her second four. Paul Freyman weighs into Geoff’s chat on Sarah Taylor’s short form credentials:
@GeoffLemonSport This is blasphemy from an England fan, but I now suspect Taylor is a better ODI bat than a T20 bat: more comfortable squirting it at 90 degrees than at hitting down the ground. She's still worth her place in any side for her keeping, though.
— (((Ravi Nair))) (@palfreyman1414) November 19, 2017
1st over: Australia 5-0 (Mooney 1, Healy 4)
**Waves from London** Howdy everyone! Vish here, taking over from Geoff Lemon. Australia have probably got this. Right? Beth Mooney, start of the show last time out, starts with a single before Alyssa Healy gets the first boundary of the chase, working Anya Shrubsole inside fine leg for four!
Australia must chase 153 to win
Well, a much better performance from England than on Friday night, and a more competitive total, though it’s probably still a bit light given how well this pitch has played. Not to mention the power in the Australian line-up. It won’t be a doddle, though - they only chased down 132 in Sydney thanks to a gem of 86 not out from Beth Mooney, and you can’t expect one of your openers to produce one of those every day. However, I’d also say that this pitch looks tailor-made for Alyssa Healy to hit on the up, over cover, as she is wont to do.
The chase shortly. I will leave you in the safe and comforting embrace of Vithushan Ehantharajah. Tell him your troubles, hear his voice. Farewell.
Updated
20th over: England 152-6 (Brunt 32, Gunn 3)
Megan Schutt is just the best at this job. Last over of a T20 International, and she concedes four runs. That’s it. Four. Takes a wicket, ends with 2-16, as the batting pair just can’t get her away. The six-hitter faces three balls for one run. Schutt hits the blockhole again and again, Brunt has to go right back on her stumps to even get a single away, and then Jenny Gunn hits her sole delivery faced away to wide long-on and just gets back thanks to a throw a bit wider than it needed to be.
WICKET! Wilson b Schutt 6
Big swing, no contact, and Australia’s primo bowler does the job again.
19th over: England 148-6 (Brunt 31, Wilson 6)
Wilson deals almost exclusively in sweeps and ramps, less a cricketer than a very clean BMX rider. But today things have changed. Two scoring shots in front of square now, as she charges Aley, makes a full toss into an even high full toss, and pounds it through midwicket for four. Brunt gets the strike, gets a big appeal, and gets a reprieve. That was very much out on our consensus in the stands, but we’re not umpiring. Brunt was on one knee trying to hit the ball, Aley on one knee begging for the dismissal. No dice. Brunt celebrates by advancing to crush another six runs over long on. Other end of the ground this time.
18th over: England 135-6 (Brunt 24, Wilson 1)
WHACK! You can call that Clatter-All Damage. Wilson scores a rare run in front of the wicket to hand Brunt the strike, and the powerful hitter gives it her all from the last ball of Kimmince’s over. Waaaaaay over long-on, this ground is the size of the MCG, and that ball lands two metres inside the fence.
Updated
WICKET! Knight b Kimmince 4
Kimmince pies, as the seamer bowls one down leg for a wide, then two at the pads that Knight flicks for a brace each time. But Delissa comes back with a jaffa cake, curling some in-swing to beat the stroke and bake the batter. Iced it.
Updated
17th over: England 123-4 (Brunt 18, Knight 0)
Knight moves down the order, two squares toward the crease, then one to the right towards the non-striker’s end. Brunt crossed while Sciver was getting out, so the Barnsley Express whacks a straight drive down the ground, and it gets a bit of curl across the turf away from Villani at long-on. Four more, big over for both teams.
WICKET! Sciver c Haynes b Perry 40
Perry back. Brunt on strike. Nothing gets K-Brunt madder than the mention of Perry. She can’t even watch the opening credits of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. anymore. “So no one told you life was gonna be this way...” They didn’t actually. First ball of the over, Brunt crushes it over mid-on for four. Then takes a single, but Sciver can’t keep up the scoring. Tries a big pull shot, top edges, and Haynes is waiting at the drop like Mike from Breaking Bad. Yes, it’s good to watch a range of television.
16th over: England 112-3 (Sciver 38, Brunt 9)
Strano to close out her allotment. She’s taken a bit of tap, but hasn’t bowled badly in truth. Sciver gets another couple of runs to midwicket, bolting back for the second with a good stretch. Aside from that, it’s only an over of singles. Strano goes for 30 off her four overs.
15th over: England 105-3 (Sciver 34, Brunt 6)
JJ Jonassen gets some control back. She’s usually the one she does, with left-arm spinners that nag like an unpaid landlord. Four singles from the over is all, great at this stage of the innings. Some hitting ahead, buckle up.
14th over: England 101-3 (Sciver 32, Brunt 4)
Sciver steps up, as Strano steps back. Sciver reverse-sweeps, nails it, and gets four through backward to start the over. Strano tightens up for a couple of singles off the next three, but then goes too far down leg and Sciver can employ the conventional sweep with rare power for four through square leg. A real swat, but placed as well.
Here’s the Taylor self-roast.
GOT HER! Delissa Kimmince that is simply brilliant! A big wicket with Taylor run out #WomensAshes pic.twitter.com/8FCQcVtJMW
— Australian Women's Cricket Team 🏏 (@SouthernStars) November 19, 2017
13th over: England 90-3 (Sciver 22, Brunt 3)
Brunt out ahead of Knight. Interesting. The pinch-hitter was out for a golden goose on Friday night, but she clouts a couple off Jonassen to get off the mark here.
Updated
WICKET! Taylor run out (Kimmince) 30
Waste. What a waste. A wastrel. Solid waste. Waste high. Wasted. I said that earlier, but this is throwing plates of fresh oysters out a hotel window. Sarah Taylor, in any event, is freshly shucked. And by her own volition. Hits the ball to backward point, straight and Kimmince, and runs anyway. Never had a chance, if the throw hit. And it did, at the non-striker’s end, as Kimmince steadied and let fly. Taylor was on one here, she was batting beautifully, and now she’s put a letter-opener through the masterpiece.
12th over: England 85-2 (Taylor 30, Sciver 20)
Beamer! It’s all happening here. Sarah Aley sends down the pie flaoter, and Sciver, bizarrely, clubs it to deep square and turns down the single. What? Turn down runs in a T20? Sciver has dead-set alpha-dogged Sarah Taylor, saying “I’m a better chance to hit a six from the free hit than you, you fancy strokemaker.” In the event, Sciver only gets a single to deep midwicket. What. The. Effluent. Later in the over, Aley goes way down leg, and Healy does magnificently to dive across, get some kind of deflection on it, and keep five wides to three. The Queen of Control is losing it with the ball though.
11th over: England 75-2 (Taylor 29, Sciver 14)
England are flying! Delissa Kimmince on with her mediums, and Taylor goes the conventional ramp this time. There’s such a thing as a conventional ramp? Yes, there is, grandad. This is beautifully timed, she moves across to outside her off stump to send that ball leaping towards fine leg. Then flays the next over cover point, inside out and lofted, for four more!
10th over: England 63-2 (Taylor 19, Sciver 12)
Gardner to continue, Off-Spin City. They work a couple of singles out to midwicket, then there’s another boundary from a fielding mishap. This time Gardner the victim as bowler, having made the blunder earlier. Sciver sweeps hard, Strano runs around the boundary and doesn’t anticipate the back-spin from the sliced shot. Should have, you have to in that position. Strano then tracks back toward the rope, slips as she tries to field, and jams her foot into the rope while her wrist is resting on the ball. Sciver gets in the book for a four, however it came.
9th over: England 53-2 (Taylor 17, Sciver 4)
Strano back on around the wicket, and bowls flat and straight. It’s not the most exciting way to proceed, but at least it works. Three singles only from the over, including a very tight one off the last ball. Just beats the throw from cover.
8th over: England 50-2 (Taylor 16, Sciver 2)
Gardner on for a trundle with her off-breaks. Highly effective in the World Cup this year. Taylor greets her beautifully, coming down the wicket to manufacture a full toss, then whipping it through wide long-on to beat the sweeper. Four of the best. Tries it again later in the over, but only gets a single that time.
7th over: England 42-2 (Taylor 10, Sciver 1)
Honours even. England going well on the run rate, but lost their openers.
WICKET! Beaumont lbw Jonassen 9
Bizarre! Beaumont kneels to sweep, misses, and is hit in the ribcage. Maybe just a bit high, but she’s very small, and the ball may have been dropping enough to hit the bails. The umpire pulls the trigger.
6th over: England 38-1 (Beaumont 8, Taylor 8)
Taylor! What a stroke. What do you call that? A reverse ramp shot, I’d say. From the seamer Schutt. Taylor reverses the bat, angles it toward the leg side, and ramps the ball through about second slip for four. Outrageous.
Updated
5th over: England 31-1 (Beaumont 7, Taylor 3)
Jonassen on, and Beaumont is dropped second ball! Drilled at mid-off, Gardner dived across but couldn’t hang on once she hit the ground. Taylor is into the act with positivity, striking to mid-off and sprinting with the stroke. England could use a big innings from her today on this tailor-made deck. Taylor rather wastes a full toss by reversing it straight to the field. Going to play her full range, it seems.
4th over: England 26-1 (Beaumont 5, Taylor 0)
Australia claw back thanks to their white-ball saviour. Schutt has taken a bag of wickets this series, here and in the ODIs.
WICKET! Wyatt c Haynes b Schutt 19
What a waste. Schutt holds back the length, Wyatt goes on the up, and drills it straight at Australia’s captain at cover.
3rd over: England 23-0 (Wyatt 18, Beaumont 4)
Danni Wyatt! “Ok, corral these bowlers for me,” said Knight, and her new opener is doing it. Wyatt has a point and a backward point, but gets some width from Perry, waits for the ball, and times perfectly the slash that splits those fielders for four! Utter class. She nearly gets another with a slash over the empty cordon area, but it’s saved at third man. Beaumont finally gets to face a second ball, and there’s the difference in timing, as she finds the point field twice. Perry bowls a wide bouncer well over her head, and eventually Beaumont gets one out of the screws, slapping in front of point. It’s a diving save from Aussie skipper Haynes to keep four to three.
Updated
2nd over: England 13-0 (Wyatt 13, Beaumont 0)
Schutt starts with the second over, and Wyatt is a gunslinger! Drops to one knee and slams Shooter over her head down to the long-on rope. This is a great move so far.
Updated
1st over: England 9-0 (Wyatt 9, Beaumont 0)
Well, hello! Cat, meet pigeons. Things have changed since last game. Danni Wyatt, who was England’s shining light in clubbing 50 off 35 balls last match, has been promoted to open. Heather Knight quite keen to relinquish that job after a second-ball duck the other day. And Australia makes a change too, with Strano opening the bowling. She doesn’t do too badly, Wyatt uncontrolled and aerial as she goes over cover, but... this is weird. Ash Gardner has just forgotten what the rope means. She runs after the ball, picks it up, then puts one foot down over the rope to stop her momentum. Immediately she yanks the foot back with a look of horror - the floor is lava, after all. But it’s too late! One of the weirdest fours you’ve ever seen.
Wyatt is beaten next ball by a corker that goes on straight with the arm and beats the edge, then produces a more classical boundary by skipping down the wicket and cover-driving through the gap. Lovely start.
England win the toss and will bat
Sighs of relief in the touring dressing room, I am quite sure.
Changes - Shrubsole in for Hartley, pace for spin for England. In the Australian camp, Amanda Wellington swaps out for Molly Strano, leg-spin for off.
Australia
Mooney
Healy
Villani
Perry
Haynes
Gardner
Kimmince
Jonassen
Aley
Strano
Schutt
.
England
Knight
Beaumont
Taylor
Sciver
Brunt
Wyatt
Wilson
Gunn
Hazell
Shrubsole
Ecclestone
Updated
Get in touch
As always, hit us up to be part of the blog. I’m on Twitter at @GeoffLemonSport, or you can email geoff.lemon@theguardian.com.
The pitch looks like an absolute road, as it tends to be at Manuka Oval in our nation’s capital, so whoever wins the toss will bat, bat, bat.
Righto, here we go. The big question today is, who can bounce back harder, better, faster, stronger? The Aussies may be dusty after their celebrations at retaining the Ashes, or England may be flat at their failure to regain them. But the series result is not yet over. It could still be a drawn series 8-8 if England wins today, and that would see them leave our shores in a far happier state than a series loss. Do they have it in them to pull back into contention?
Geoff will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a reminder of where we’re at in the series:
One-day internationals (two points for a win)
- 22 October, Brisbane - Australia won by two wickets
- 26 October, Coffs Harbour - Australia won by 75 runs (DLS method)
- 29 October, Coffs Harbour - England won by 20 runs
Four-day Test match (four points for the win)
- 9 November, North Sydney – match drawn, points shared
Twenty20 matches (two points for a win)
- 17 November, North Sydney - Australia won by six wickets
- 19 November, Canberra
- 21 November, Canberra
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