Australia have won the Ashes outright after sealing victory in the second Twenty20 international in Canberra on Thursday in a controversial finish as England fought to complete a tight rain-affected run chase. The hosts won by six runs under the DLS method and are now 10-0 up on points.
There remains the prospect of a series whitewash, which Australia’s stand-in captain, Tahlia McGrath, said was now the team’s goal: “Job not done. We’ve been hungry for a while.”
The umpires pulled the players from the field with five balls remaining and the England captain, Heather Knight, was seen remonstrating with them before reluctantly walking off. England needed an unlikely 18 to win, but Knight – on strike and unbeaten on 43 from 19 balls – clearly felt she could have pulled it off. “It was frustration at the situation,” she said. “It was the right decision to take us off.”
It was the second time rain had intervened. England had been two runs ahead of the required rate at this point, 8.4 overs into their run chase, when play was halted. The hard work of the groundsmen then handed them a second opportunity to chase the runs.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley continued to put pressure on the Australian fielders after the resumption, sending the wet ball through their hands and flying to all corners of the ground.
But six balls after bringing up her half-century Wyatt-Hodge picked out mid-off, and Megan Schutt struck again in the same over, moving the ball in to take out Dunkley’s off stump. Knight loves batting here – she has hit two hundreds and four half-centuries here – but 87 from the final 42 balls proved a step too far as the rain grew heavier and her half-century stand with Nat Sciver-Brunt for the fourth wicket went in vain.
Knight said it was England’s best batting performance of the tour: “I’m really proud of the way that we fought in that chase. We showed some brilliant fight and spirit to try and get us over the line.”
She acknowledged there would be “a conversation” about her continuing as captain at the end of the tour, but said the question needed to be parked for now. “In any leadership position you always feel responsibility when the team’s not performing well,” she said. “It’s frustrating but I’m just focused on what we need to do to try and turn things around.”
The decision to foreshorten the match by five balls looked even stranger given that the umpires had earlier kept the players on the field despite thunder and lightning. With five overs bowled and 41 runs on the board, the England openers, Maia Bouchier and Wyatt-Hodge, made off in the direction of the dugout, knowing they were ahead of the DLS par, only to be summoned back.
In their innings, Australia had wobbled to 114 for five, but a dominant 71-run stand from 35 balls between McGrath and Grace Harris helped them recover to post 185. Sophie Ecclestone has come under fire in recent days after she refused an interview with Alex Hartley, apparently in retaliation for Hartley’s criticism of team fitness standards, and the left-arm spinner’s 19th over proved the most expensive, going for 18.
Australia were again without their captain, Alyssa Healy, who is already ruled out of Saturday’s third T20 with a foot injury, and Ash Gardner, who is being assessed daily after sustaining a calf strain and may yet return for the final T20. They have been named in the Test squad, though if Healy is ruled fit she will play as a batter only, leaving Beth Mooney to keep wicket.
Mooney struck 44 off 31 in a display of powerplay dominance that left her fellow opener, Georgia Voll, almost completely starved of the strike. Australia then leaned into their extensive batting depth: Harris used her sheer brute force to pump consecutive sixes off Sarah Glenn, before some poor ring-fielding and a shelled catch at long-off allowed McGrath to pummel Ecclestone’s penultimate over for four boundaries.
Lauren Bell could manage only one over at the death after earlier having to leave the field due to illness, which only added to the disarray.
