England claim consolation win in final T20I
Australia won the toss and opted to field, but for the first time in the multi-format series, England reached double digits before losing their first wicket. Danni Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont put on a ‘mammoth’ partnership of 28, the former’s 20 from 19 balls setting the innings up nicely. Perhaps that’s all they’ve needed all summer. It also included what, at the time, was only the fifth English six of the series, again including all three formats.
There were no outstanding, performance-of-a-lifetime heroics, but almost everyone chipped in. Heather Knight hit 23, and Amy Jones made it to 19, a relief considering prior to today she’d suffered four ducks in five innings, and hit only five runs in the other one.
Still, it didn’t seem enough for England at 84/5 when she departed. It was Lauren Winfield and Katherine Brunt who, with a partnership of 55 from 6.3 overs, took England to 139/5 from their 20 overs.
Needing exactly seven an over, it seemed Australia had the edge. They certainly had the psychological edge, having whipped England across all forms of the game in painfully recent memory. Katherine Brunt removed Beth Mooney for 2 in the fifth over, but it was when Sophie Ecclestone trapped Meg Lanning LBW for the same score in the sixth that you sensed it might be England’s night. It was the first time England had taken her wicket in a T20 match since 2016.
There was always Ellyse Perry to worry about – who batted brilliantly for her unbeaten 60 from 50 balls – but the wickets tumbled around her. Mady Villiers claimed 2/20 on her international debut, picking up Alyssa Healy and Ash Gardner, who was stumped for a golden duck, smart work behind the stumps from Amy Jones completing the dismissal.
Perry kept Australia in it until the penultimate over, where two LBWs in consecutive deliveries from Ecclestone sealed their fate.
Brunt had the honour of bowling the final over, removing Georgia Wareham in the process. She finished with three wickets, as did Ecclestone, and England won by 17 runs.
