Australia retained the Ashes after beating England by three runs in this one-day international at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday, despite an unbeaten century from Nat Sciver-Brunt.
England had collapsed to 203 for seven when Sarah Glenn joined Sciver-Brunt at the crease, with an unlikely 80 runs needed from the remaining 68 balls to achieve their highest ever winning chase – but Sciver‑Brunt took just enough calculated risks to keep them in the hunt.
Put down by a sprawling Georgia Wareham at deep midwicket on 97 in the penultimate over, she brought up her hundred the very next ball, digging out Ash Gardner’s yorker to long‑on for a single.
The job was not done, though: 15 runs still needed from Jess Jonassen’s final over. The pair ran hard, but though Sciver-Brunt’s first slog‑sweep found the boundary off the third, she was left needing five off the final ball and could manage only a single.
Australia now have an unassailable 8-6 lead on points in the series, with one match left to play. But though England’s dream of a first Ashes win in a decade may be over, they once again lived up to the billing of their coach, Jon Lewis, whose mission is for his team to “inspire and entertain”.
Heather Knight labelled it “the best series there’s ever been in the history of the women’s game”.
After a match that once again came down to the final ball, Knight said: “The Ashes are gone, which is disappointing, but I feel pride that we got so close. This series has showed that we’re very evenly matched.
“In terms of us as a group, we’ve come a long way especially in terms of the mental side of it, being really calm and clear.”
England were left ruing their earlier efforts in the field, having allowed Ellyse Perry to reach 91 after a series of let-offs, before Wareham smashed 26 runs off Lauren Bell’s final over to elevate Australia’s final total to 282 for seven.
This was a reinvigorated Australia side, armed with different tactics: Gardner was handed the new ball, while Alana King was brought into the XI after missing out in the preceding four white-ball matches, and pouched three of England’s top five en route to figures of three for 44.
Admittedly, Knight’s dismissal was marginal: the England captain was given out lbw, reviewed instantly, and looked confused when the third umpire upheld the on-field decision, despite Ultraedge seeming to show a small spike as the ball went past her bat.
There was no such doubt, though, when King sent down a ripper which drifted in and turned away from Tammy Beaumont to hit the top of her off stump, nor when Alice Capsey holed out to deep midwicket in the 24th over, as England sank to 123 for four.
All seemed lost when Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone perished within three balls of each other in the 39th, both attempting the sweep to Gardner, until Sciver-Brunt’s heroics gave the crowd something to cheer about.
It had started so well for the hosts. Handed the new ball on a hard, bouncy pitch, Bell got off to a dream start by removing both openers early. Alyssa Healy looked every inch the tired captain under pressure, sending up an easy catch to Capsey at short third to leave her side 27 for two in the sixth over.
But as they are wont to do, Australia’s middle order dug in – Beth Mooney and Gardner contributing 33 runs apiece, before Annabel Sutherland struck a maiden ODI half‑century off just 47 balls as Australia gradually accelerated.
Perry, of course, was the anchor, though oddly enough she never quite looked settled at the crease: she was put down on 50, 64 and 74 after sending a thick edge flying through vacant second slip just eight balls into her innings.
Nonetheless, she remained stubbornly there, even as Kate Cross limped off the field after shelling her at mid-off, and after Glenn almost knocked herself out at deep fine leg flinging herself forward in an attempt to claim a catch.
Ecclestone chimed in with a double-wicket 47th over, during which Perry and Sutherland sent the ball down the throat of long-off and long-on respectively. At 256 for seven with six balls left of the innings, England had every right to be hopeful.
Suddenly, though, that dream start from Bell turned into a nightmare. Six, six, four, six, four from Wareham: the innings might have ended with a dot ball but the damage was done – to Bell’s figures (her three for 85 the most expensive by an English woman in an ODI), and ultimately to England’s Ashes hopes.
