Australia triumph over England

Australia secured a 41-run victory over England to tie the series at 2-2 in the final ODI at Sydney.

Batting first, the home side registered 211-9 off their 50 overs, with Alex Blackwell once again in excellent form with the bat as she made 61, although she was well supported by Shelley Nitschke (50) with whom she added 90 for the opening wicket.

Stephanie Davies was the star for England’s bowlers, with a hugely impressive performance on debut, taking 4-47 in nine overs.

In reply, England stuttered to 68-3, before an impressive partnership between Charlotte Edwards and Lydia Greenway threatened to take the game away from Australia.

But wickets fell at regular intervals to an accurate Australian bowling attack, with Ellyse Perry leading the way with 3-30, and England never really looked like reaching their target.

After the game, England captain Charlotte Edwards commented: “We’re bitterly disappointed that we didn’t manage to clinch the series here today. We didn’t bowl or field well enough as a unit and to get 211 on a worn wicket was always going to be a hard ask.

“Having said that it’s fantastic to draw a series against Australia in Australia and I’m really proud of all the girls’ efforts over the last week and look forward to the Test match in Bowral which starts at the end of the week.”