England’s Women’s Ashes pain worsens after limp third T20 defeat by Australia
England’s Women’s Ashes pain worsens after limp third T20 defeat by Australia
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Australia are six from six in the Women’s Ashes after England put on an embarrassing display with the bat, collapsing to 90 all out in 17.3 overs – one of their worst ever performances in a T20 – to hand Australia a 72-run victory in the final T20 of the Ashes series.
![[Australia’s Megan Schutt and Grace Harris celebrate after winning the third T20.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/28784b99fbc31514472257403f4b787824b28ae8/0_3_3993_2396/master/3993.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The result will once again put pressure on the England coach Jon Lewis, who had claimed 24 hours ago that the gap between the Ashes rivals was closer than the scoreline suggested. Chasing 163, only two England players – Heather Knight and Sophie Ecclestone – made it into double figures, in what was their poorest batting performance of the tour so far. England’s shot selection was inept, offering up soft catches against Darcie Brown, who took two wickets on recall to the T20 side, and mis-executing the sweep against Georgia Wareham, who claimed three.
Australia once again demonstrated complete supremacy in the field, with Georgia Voll taking a stunning diving catch at backward point to finally see off Ecclestone, before Ellyse Perry flung herself at the ball at cover and ran out Linsey Smith. Another perfect illustration of the difference between England and Australia was the performance of Beth Mooney, whose batting had been the mainstay of Australia’s total. Twice in a row in the 20th over of Australia’s innings, Mooney stole a second run from under England’s noses, pulling out a full-stretch dive to beat Smith’s throw in from deep midwicket, before using sheer speed to outpace long-on, making her ground just before Amy Jones could whip off the bails.
