Southern Stars shine, level series

AUSTRALIA will head into the third women’s Ashes onedayer at Worcester with renewed confidence after trouncing England by 63 runs.

After being beaten convincingly in the opening ODI, the Southern Stars scored 6-259 in Bristol – led by captain Meg Lanning’s 104 off 98 balls – before limiting England to 196 as the three-match series levelled at 1-1 yesterday.

Despite 58 from star opener Charlotte Edwards, England finished well short of their victory target, with Australian seamer Megan Schutt the pick of the bowlers with 4-47.

The multi-format Ashes is now locked up at two points each after holders England won first ODI by four wickets on Tuesday.

Lanning said her century was the best way to bounce back from the disappointment of defeat in Taunton and set the tone for victory.

“I think it’s important I lead from the front,” she said.

“As a top-three batter my job is to score big runs. I’ve got the opportunity to do that. Once you get to 50 and 60 as a No.3 you’ve really got to go on to get those big scores, because that’s what wins your team games.”

She shared in a 132-run third-wicket partnership with the in-form Ellyse Perry (48).

Lanning praised Australia’s bowling attack in taking 9-74 to finish England’s run chase.

“After the drinks break we really attacked the stumps a lot more, bowled a lot straighter,” she said. “It was nice that we were able to adapt within the innings, not let things roll too long before the game got away from us.”

Schutt said Australia’s aggressive tactics paid off. England had a good start but once the ball became “more dead and a bit more hard to score with, we targeted the stumps and the wickets came”.