Australia retain Women's Ashes as England collapse to fourth straight defeat despite Sophia Dunkley efforts
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Australia retained the Women’s Ashes in dominant fashion as England collapsed to a 57-run victory in the first T20 international. Heather Knight's side arrived at the Sydney Cricket Ground having lost all three one-day internationals and knowing only victory would keep their slim Ashes hopes alive.
They were well beaten again, though, as the hosts bowled England out after 16 overs to take an unassailable 8-0 lead in the series. Beth Mooney smashed a 51-ball 75 at the top of the order as Australia posted 198 for seven, before England then lost opener Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt-Hodge within seven balls of the chase.
Despite a thrilling 59 off 30 balls from Sophia Dunkley, England fell well short. The second of three T20s, worth two points each, will be played in Canberra on Thursday. Even victory in both of the remaining T20 matches and then the one-off Test, worth four points, will not be enough for England to claim the Ashes.
“I thought it was an outstanding innings by Beth Mooney,” England captain Knight said. “She makes it really hard for the bowlers to execute. “We gave them 20-30 too many runs, if we'd conceded less we'd have been in with a real chance. "We felt like we were in it, Sophia Dunkley's innings was really smart. She was outstanding, played with freedom. It was frustrating today.".
Dunkley said: "I think we're just really disappointed, we wanted to bring a lot of energy and we fell quite short. “I wanted to go out there and give it my best shot and put the pressure on Australia. We can still draw the Ashes, it's not completely gone, so we'll focus on that.”.
