by They say the mark of a championship team is winning on a bad day. Or they could say that. We don’t know who “they” are, perhaps the ones making up copies for Vince Lombardi’s fake quote books. But it does indeed sound like the kind of sentence that might be vaguely true and rings hollow wisdom.
The Australians proved this imaginary thesis in the second Women’s Ashes one-day international, winning a match they had absolutely no right to. A mixture of their confidence under pressure and England’s complete absence in the same scenario allowed Australia to defend a target of 181 with 11 balls and 21 runs to play, after a poor batting performance at home gave the visitors every chance of leveling the multi-format series. on two points each.
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Teams in the modern game facing top opponents with 180 players on the board should expect to see their scores plummet, but Australia came out for the second innings as a team on the attack. Kim Garth took the first strikes with the new ball, dismissing both openers with a bit of seam movement and accuracy at the stumps.
Then it was time for spin to end the innings. Alana King’s four wickets, including one in her first over and two in her last, at this stage on a hat-trick as England lost eight. But it was his work in between that was equally important, giving up 25 runs from his 10 overs, pairing up perfectly as Ash Gardner’s 10 overs of finger spin turned the other way and returned 1 for 23.
England’s most dynamic scorers were pressed: Heather Knight 18 from 35 balls, Nat Sciver-Brunt 35 from 57, and later Alice Capsey 14 for 35. This meant that as wickets fell, the target was still too far away for the remaining players to throw themselves. for the finish line. All England faced 206 dot balls. Or if you prefer, including wideouts and no-balls, the entire team scored on 92 pitches in the innings.
But it wasn’t just about good bowling, it was about what good bowling produced. After the big names in the middle order departed, a sequence capped by King’s pearler on a broken leg that bowled Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s first ball, the ineptitude of the late innings effort added a extra layer of highlighter to the gap between teams. . Australia continued to swarm while England collapsed.
You can watch Charlie Dean’s attempt to catch King, a shot that requires pace but was used against slow leg-spin, when the most threatening bowler of the day had five more deliveries. The ball traveled around five meters before being caught, exposing Sophie Ecclestone to nick the next behind. You can watch Lauren Filer’s out, after another failed scoop after a full pitch that Amy Jones should have hit into the stands, then denied a single as #10 walked away.
And you can look at Jones in general, who ended up with a flattering 47 that wasn’t on the scoreboard, and who her captain praised as “brilliant” for “bringing us together.” But it was his haphazard playmaking that caused so many late problems, including the last one.
When the eighth wicket fell with 56 needed, there was only one option: Jones had to score them herself. She has the full range of shots and had 70 bullets in reserve. But by then, having been heavy by necessity, an innings of 27 from 71 balls, she was unable to get to bat with No. 11, twice failing to keep the strike late in the innings, l ‘giving up once with just one first ball.
Meanwhile, the required rate climbed: six-overs, seven, nine, 11. It was at the 48th time that luck seemed to have broken England’s way, Annabel Sutherland delivering a high no-ball that been well repelled for four. Jones did not punish the free throw, nor another full throw that was also called. That final call was wrong, below the waist as Jones came out of his crease and stood on tiptoe as the ball reached him, but Sutherland was taken out of the attack.
Related: Australia vs England: Second Women’s Ashes One-Day International Cricket Match – Live
So with one ball remaining, a free kick, delivered by Tahlia McGrath who had not played all day, the time had come for Jones to make Australia pay. Instead, she launched a pulling shot towards King at deep square leg, then stood mysteriously watching a catch that didn’t count. Eighth ball of the over, last ball of the over, and Jones didn’t run, leaving Lauren Bell on strike needing 22 from 12.
Even if Jones had thought there was a ball coming, they should have taken a chance. Of course, Bell received the next ball, completing one of the most remarkable episodes of self-destruction to lose an international match. All this after England’s spinners produced a top-notch performance, with Ecclestone’s 4 for 35 and Capsey’s 3 for 22 doing much the same to Australia as King and Gardner later doled out. A collapse of 4 from 7 was distressing, with only Ellyse Perry topping 30. This Australian team doesn’t have many bad days, and this England team couldn’t count a rare one.
