Australian Women Win The Ashes Cup With Exceptional Performance

Recently the world has witnessed a superb game of cricket in the Ashes series between the Women of England and Australia. It was a multi-format series in which both the teams had to play three One Day International matches, one Test Match and three T20I matches. Australia being the former winner of the Ashes cup had an edge over England where England had the advantage of playing in their home ground. Looking at the result of the tournament this thing is clear that playing at the home ground has nothing to do with success when your opponent is the master of the game.

On July 2nd the first Ashes ODI was played between Australia and England women cricket teams at Grace Road Leicester. The Australian captain won the toss and elected to bowl first. In this first ODI the England batting line up could not stay on the crease for long enough to give their team a great total that was hard to chase. They were all out for 177 runs only in just 46.5 overs. Though the openers of Australian team could not stay on the wicket for long the third and fourth player partnership was good enough to make the team think positively. In reply to England’s 177, Australia made 178 on loss of 8 wickets in just 42.3 overs and confirmed their lead in the Ashes Multi-Format series by 2-0.

If we look at the bowling of Australian team we find that Ellyse Perry was declared the player of the match for the three most important wickets for just 43 runs that were crucial in deciding the match. As far as batting is concerned, the English player Nat Sciver ’s made 64 that helped their team reach 177, and the 66 made by the Australian player Alyssa Healy helped her team chase the total of 177 and Australia succeeded in winning the game.

In the second ODI played between the two arch rivals, again Australia won the match by 4 wickets with 28 balls still in hand. In this match the England women won the toss and opted to bat. This match was played at Fischer County Ground Grace Road Leicester. In this match the England team made 217 all out and gave Australia an easy target to achieve. TT Beaumont made the highest score form England’s side – 114. The score was chased by Australian team in 45.2 overs at loss of 6 wickets. Among Australian batsmen EA Perry made 62 runs and the rest of the score was made by the rest of 5 players who came in to bat. Among England bowlers A Shrubsole was the best bowler who bowled 8 overs gave 47 runs and took 3 wickets. The Australian bowler DM Kimmince did a superb job and bowled 7.4 overs gave 26 runs and took 5 wickets and was declared player of the match.

In the third and last ODI of Women’s Ashes series played on 7th July 2019 at Canterbury between England and Australia the England team won the match and opted to field first. The outstanding game by Australia took the team to 267 at loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. The outstanding batting performance by AJ Healy and the skipper MM Lanning played a vital role in making the good total. In reply to this reasonable total made by Australia the poor batting performance by England players could only take the team to 75 runs all out in 32.5 overs and Australia won the match by 194 runs.

If we take a look at the bowling performance, the best among team England was NR Sciver who gave 51 and took 3 wickets. Among Australian team the best bowler was EA Perry who bowled 10 overs 4 maidens, gave 22 runs and took seven wickets in a single match and was declared player of the match.

The only test that was planned between England and Australia was played from July 18th – 21st at Taunton. The Australian players who already had a lead by winning the one day series won the toss and elected to bat first. The made 420 runs on loss of 8 wickets and declared in reply England team made 275 at loss of 9 wickets and declared the match. In the second inning after England declared Australian Women made 230 at loss of 7 wickets hence the match resulted in a draw. It was time for the English team to focus on the T20I series to keep their hopes alive.

The T20I series started with the first match being played at Chelmsford on 26th of July 2019. In this match the England team won the toss and elected to field. In this limited over game the Australian team made 226 at a loss of 3 wickets. The best batsmen from Australia, was the skipper MM Lanning who made 133 runs without getting out. It was a good total for the England team to chase as their game right from the beginning of the series was not up to the mark. In reply to the total of 226 from Australia the England team could only make 133 runs in 20 overs which were exactly the same score that was made by the single player of Australian team as if the only difference between the two teams was MM Lanning. So the first T20I was won by Australia by 93 runs and Meg Lanning was the player of the match.

The second T20I was played between Australia and England on 28th of July at Hove. In this match the England team won the toss and elected to bat first but unfortunately they could not make a decent score and were 121 at loss of 9 wickets by the end of 20th over.TT Beaumont was the highest scorer from England and made 43 runs. In replay to the 121/9 score of England Australian team made 122 at loss of only 3 wickets in 17.5 overs and won the match by 7 wickets with 13 balls still to go. The outstanding innings played by MM Lanning not out 43 on and EA Perry not out at 47 was enough to fade the hopes of England to win the T20I matches.

The last match of T20I in Women’s Ashes Cup Series was played on 31st of July at Bristol. The Australian team won the toss and elected to field first. None of the England batsmen could make a high score and the team could only make 139 at loss of 5 wickets. In reply to this small total Australia could only make 122 at loss of 8 wickets with highest scorer was EA Perry who was 60 not out. In this match the Australian bowlers M Schutt, JL Jonassen, TJ Vlaeminck, and A Gardener took one wicket each. Among eth England bowlers KH Brunt, and S Ecclestone took 3 wickets each and MK Villiers took 2 wickets. In this match KH Brunt was given the player of the match award.

With Australia losing their last game it seemed as a consolation prize for England. The Women’s Ashes Series was a fun to watch for all the spectators as it was a really exciting game of cricket especially by the winning side Australia who successfully retained the Ashes cup.