The internet reacts
First Aussie Test win on English soil since 2001. Completely outplayed England. #WomenAshes
— Amy Lofthouse (@amy_cricket) August 14, 2015
VICTORY! Coyte has Shrubsole lbw and England are all out for 101. We've won by 161 runs! Scorecard: http://t.co/Yf9pbSjAcT #Ashes
— Southern Stars (@SouthernStars) August 14, 2015
Game over in Canterbury. Australia win the Kia Test by 161 runs and take a 8-2 lead in the #Ashes series #WomensAshes
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 14, 2015
It’s all over
All over. Anya Shrubsole is given out lbw - eight fielders around the bat, all shrieking impressively - and England are all out for 101. They’ve lost by 162 runs, their final five wickets falling for 23 runs in 10 overs. That’s the lowest fourth innings all-out score in a Test match.
In truth, they’ve been completely outplayed by Australia. Their batting has been sub-standard, and for the bowlers, for Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt who bowled so well and so aggressively, to see the batting fall like a pack of cards must be gutting. Australia have been excellent. Meg Lanning has captained well, rotating her bowlers and keeping her team geed up. Jess Jonassen, on debut, has impressed with some beautiful batting and Ellyse Perry with the ball has been irresistible.
That means Australia have a 8-2 lead in the Ashes series. England will need to have a clean sweep in the T20’s to retain the Ashes. Dear oh dear.
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One more to go
Poor Georgia Elwiss. She thuds a horrid full bunger from Ellyse Perry straight to the hovering fielder at mid-on. She is gutted as she drags herself away from the crease. She’s the only England player to show any intent. This has gone beyond grim now.
Australia are looking strong
Five in the match for Ellyse Perry as Katherine Brunt makes her way off the field. She aimed a hook shot at a Perry bouncer and got a thin edge through to the keeper. The delivery appeared to have hit her helmet, rather than the bat, but she’s been given out nonetheless. She registers her disapproval by kicking the boundary rope on the way off.
Two more wickets needed now for Australia. Anya Shrusbole registered a 60-ball duck during England’s first innings - the girl can block. Georgia Elwiss, meanwhile, is carrying on as normal, gliding a loose Sarah Coyte delivery through the covers for a much needed boundary. It’s 96-8.
Can England survive?
Lydia Greenway’s 137-ball vigil has come to an end. She’s been bowled by Ellyse Perry as she attempted to duck and was then bowled around her legs.
That means England are 80-6 as Laura Marsh strides to the crease. And she’s walking back again after the very next ball, bowled by an absolute peach from Ellyse Perry. Perry’s on a hat-trick for the second time in the match. It’s negotiated off Katherine Brunt’s pads with ease, although Megan Schutt still takes the opportunity to have a little samba practice in the gully as she dances around.
This is absolutely dire for England now. 80-7, 183 to win, 36 overs to survive.
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We have 39 overs left in the day.
That’s 39 overs for England to block for their lives.
We had a discussion over tea about the future of women’s Test cricket. I didn’t realise how top heavy the women’s cricket structure is. For all the hype about the professional contracts, if you’re not in that top bracket, it’s a real struggle to make even part of a career in cricket. Middlesex women’s captain Izzy Westbury has a weekly two hour training session on a Monday and then every fortnight they have a three hour session on grass. The rest is down to the players themselves - if they can afford it. And Middlesex train together, as a squad, more often than any other county side. This is something that will need to be looked at if England want to keep their intentional side going from strength to strength.
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Georgia Elwisshas stepped up
This is a good innings from Georgia Elwiss. She’s a really positive player, and although she’s being cautious, she’s taking the runs when they’re available. She’s absolutely lovely to watch too. A lot of the players have got into trouble by playing around their pads. She’s played straight and she takes guard slightly outside leg stump, meaning that she can flick things away.
She’s currently on 36, while Lydia Greenway is on a very patient 14 from 107 balls. t’s a beautiful day outside and they’re getting some good support from the crowd. The Aussie families, however, are less than impressed with this go-slow attitude.
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England have completely shut down
The good news for England is that they haven’t lost any more wickets. The bad news is that nothing is happening. The scoreboard is ticking over maybe once every three overs.
Kristen Beams has had her first bowl in Test cricket. The leg-spinner was unable to bowl in the first innings after sustaining a calf injury when batting. She’s struggled to get into a decent rhythm - understandable, given that she hasn’t bowled for three days and hardly with a red ball - and a floaty short ball outside off-stump is clubbed away by Lydia Greenway for a boundary.
Georgia Elwiss has moved to 18, the highest score of the innings, and no-one really knows how. The best thing about Elwiss is the way she looks at the crease. She always has a huge grin on her face and she likes to be really positive from the off. In and among the dot balls, she’s scored three boundaries. A little cheer goes up around the ground as England pass 50 - they’re 53-5, needing another 210 runs to win.
From bad to worse for the hosts
Oh, now it’s two wickets in three balls as Natalie Sciver edges another beautiful yorker behind to Alyssa Healy. Megan Schutt is on fire. Just the small matter of 234 runs to win.
More bad news for England
This has gone from bad to worse to really ugly for England as Lauren Winfield is given out lbw.
It was a beautiful delivery from Megan Schutt, a big, inswinging yorker than Winfield couldn’t jab her bat down on. It swung in a long, long way, which deceived Winfield slightly. The crowd have very much gone quiet, although Alex Blackwelll’s dad, who is modelling a stunning kangaroo hat today, is leading the Australian friends and family in cheering the players on.
So Winfield has fallen for 12 - from 50 balls - and England are 27-4. It’s not easy out there, although the pitch is very flat. All the movement is coming out of the bowler’s hand. It’s been an incredibly skilful display from Schutt and Ellyse Perry this afternoon.
England are struggling
England have just walked out after lunch and it’s taken the grand total of one ball for Charlotte Edwards to be walking back to the pavilion.
She poked forward to a decent length Ellyse Perry delivery that just took the outside edge and was held jubilantly by Alyssa Healy behind the stumps. Australia have gone mad; the England captain is their prize wicket. She could also have really taken the game away from Australia. In such a barren day two, she was the player who looked to hit as many boundaries as possible. Her running between the wickets isn’t the strongest but she makes up for that with some unbelievable power behind her shots.
It’s lunchtime in Canterbury
Lunch, with England on 16-2 and needing another 247 runs to win.
Sarah Taylor has had an awful game with the bat. That shot that got her out, big wafty drive, inside-edging, as the replay showed, onto her stumps, was poor. Heather Knight was deceived slightly by the lack of pace on the ball, but she was dismissed in a period where England had just started getting bogged down. They don’t need to be thrashing every ball to the boundary but they desperately need to stop Australia dictating the state of play.
Make that two wickets
Oh that is awful from Sarah Taylor. She completely misses a straight ball from Ellyse Perry, throwing a wild airy drive at it and is bowled through the gate. What a poor game she’s had with the bat. 12-2 and England are staring down the barrel. Enter Charlotte Edwards...
England have lost a wicket
Ten minutes until lunch and England have lost their first wicket. Sarah Coyte, bowling from the pavillion end, got one to drift back in. Knight, pressing forward, missed the ball and was struck on the pad. She’s gone for five and England are 11-1 as Sarah Taylor strides to the crease.
Taylor, for all her natural talent, has struggled in Tests. Her trigger movement takes her really far across her stumps, meaning she is an lbw candidate. Australia played her beautifully on the second day. England will be hoping she can score some runs here.
A good start from England
They have negotiated the early first over to be 7 without loss. Heather Knight slapped Ellyse Perry’s first delivery off the match to the boundary. It was short, wide and deserved the treatment. She and Winfield have been a little more reserved against Megan Schutt and Sarah Coyte. The batsmen tend to prefer facing bowlers with pace on the ball, something that comes from growing up playing boys cricket. Schutt and Coyte both take the pace off the ball, which can throw a batsman off. They will want to negotiate this period before lunch and then maybe have a dart at the old ball this afternoon.
We have a declaration
England will need 263 to win as Australia shut up shop on 156-6.
Alyssa Healy is a naturally aggressive player but it was obvious she’d been sent out with the intention of smashing some quick runs. She straight drove Laura Marsh back over her head for a one bounce for and she threw everything at every shot. Once she was bowled by Heather Knight, Meg Lanning called her squad back in.
This will be tough for England. History is against them - no women’s Test team has ever chased down over 200. They do genuinely have the batsmen to do it, and there are no demons in this pitch. So much depends on that top order. Heather Knight, Sarah Taylor, Lydia Greenway - they will be crucial if England are to get anywhere near this target.
Jonassen is out
That’s the breakthrough for England, as Jess Jonassen miscues a Laura Marsh short ball. Lydia Greenway takes an excellent low catch, diving to her right at cover. England are oddly subdued as they celebrate that wicket. Maybe it’s because Alyssa Healy, who spent this morning’s net session smashing everything back past the bowlers, has just strode to the crease.
What a terrific Test performance from Jonassen though. She’s been a step above every other batsman. She added 26 runs from 32 balls this morning, the perfect tempo when trying to set a declaration. Australia’s lead is 249 and that declaration can’t be too far away. On the plus side for England, this pitch is flat, Australia might be missing their leg spinner on a surface that has taken a bit of spin and it’s good batting conditions.
Jess Jonassen has a half-century
A bit of a worry for England as Anya Shrubsole leaves the field covering her face with her cap. She had one hand on her side throughout her final over. She’s bowled an awful lot of overs over the last few days.
Jess Jonassen meanwhile has moved to her second fifty of the match. This one has come from 63 balls, with five boundaries and one six. I’m pretty sure she’s playing on a different pitch to everyone else. She’s the one in this partnership looking to be positive, trying to rotate the strike and clubbing the bad balls away. She launched into a full Heather Knight delivery to register her half-century.
Alex Blackwell meanwhile is getting bogged down again. She’s played two cracking drives to the boundary but other than that she’s picking out the fielders constantly. Jonassen has been taking a single off the first ball of the overs, clearly trying to rotate the strike more, but Blackwell is just unable to run the singles. A change of gloves has just arrived on the field - a message from the Australian dressing room, I presume, about the declaration. The lead is currently 238, with this partnership worth 81 runs, of which Jonassen has 53.
It’s on
England have taken to the field in pretty emphatic fashion. This could be their last Test match anywhere in the world until 2018. It’s a format they really enjoy playing, and it’s a shame that they don’t get the opportunity and that when they do, they are confronted with some pretty flat pitches.
Australia have started positively though. Anya Shrubsole, bowling from the end that she had success from on the first day. Alex Blackwell drives her beautifully through the covers to bring up the 200 lead.
Early days but England have just lost their lines a bit. Brunt’s first ball is full and wide outside the off stump and Jess Jonassen absolutely clumps it to the mid-wicket boundary. The lead is currently 209 with these two registering a 50 partnership. Jonassen has made 35 out of the 51 runs they’ve put on together. Top hitting from her.
The sun is out
We have sunshine at Canterbury! Relatively speaking, anyway. It’s still cloudy and humid outside, which will give England’s swing bowlers some hope of skittling Australia out cheaply this morning.
Australia haven’t won a Test in England since 2001 and they have a fine chance of ending that run today. For all that Katherine Brunt shone yesterday, England are still facing an uphill battle. My biggest hope would be that they learn from Brunt’s performance with bat and ball and try to channel some of her aggression in their batting.
Jess Jonassen has played this pitch perfectly in both Australian innings. She played and missed at plenty yesterday but she has played the ball straight. Her aggression against off-spinner Laura Marsh was great to see; she hit her for a long, aerial six over mid-wicket yesterday to break the shackles England were applying at the other end. Their lead is currently 196 - i suspect they’ll try and get to a 250 advantage and then declare.
Morning all,
Amy Lofthouse will be continuing her live coverage of the Women’s Ashes today as the four-day Test draws to a close at Canterbury. Australia are currently looking the most likely team to win this one, having built a lead of 196 runs. Here’s Amy’s latest report:
