Australia squeeze home in tight opener
England beaten by two wickets in Ashes ODI Early batting collapse proves costly for hosts
Assertive all-round bowling displays dominated a surprisingly tight opening Ashes contest as Australia won the first one-day international by just two wickets. England’s strong start that they had been talking up pre-series peaked after the first ball, thrashed to the boundary for four, before their batting collapsed in spectacular fashion.
Against West Indies, England’s top four of Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Taylor and Heather Knight amassed 573 runs across three ODIS, averaging 191 between them. Against Australia yesterday their tally came in at 10-fold lower as the first half-hour of this historic rivalry cost the home side dearly. At 19 for one, England lost three wickets for no runs.
Australia, despite having last played an international match four months ago and with a weather-affected warm-up week, looked like a side who had bottled up all the energy and intensity of international cricket and unleashed it to vicious effect the moment they were let loose on England. The hosts, by contrast, looked startled.
Only a stubborn 64 from Nat Sciver and a late-innings run-a-ball cameo from Sophie Ecclestone (27) brought the score towards anything that looked remotely defendable, as they were bowled out with three overs left for 177.
The last time Australia failed to chase a target below 200 in an ODI was six years ago. They have never failed to chase a target so low in England. There is a first time for everything though and they almost failed on this occasion, as regular middle-order wickets showed Australians have nerves too.
Australia started tenaciously, Alyssa Healy driving, cutting and clipping the ball to all ends on a pitch which belied England’s toporder struggles. But then, all of a sudden she was out for 66, another Fran Wilson diving catch, not quite as eye-catching as the viral clip she produced against the West Indies, but just as effective, and Australia were 105 for five.
Ecclestone broke the back of Australia’s long batting tail. Just as she had offered hope for England with the bat, her spell of left-arm spin produced three wickets for 34, including two of Australia’s most experienced batters just as they were looking to guide their side to safety.
Ecclestone almost won it too. Were it not for a couple of dropped catches – Healy on 43 and Delissa Kimmince on one – England might have ended up the victors. Instead Australia pick up the two points, scratchy and untidy and more vulnerable than they might have wanted, but meaning they have got everything to prove in the next ODI, and a win from which to do so.
Strength in depth of their respective batting line-ups is a frequently talked about topic when these two teams meet, but it was the all-round bowling displays that carried yesterday’s story. Only in Ellyse Perry, Australia have the advantage of a potent strike bowler. Happy to leak runs as long as she takes wickets, yesterday Perry was at her best, banging the ball in hard, from good height and with great bounce, she got three of England’s top four and arguably, won the match in the first six overs.
Every match is bigger than one umpiring moment. But it would be remiss not to mention Wilson’s dismissal, just as England were beginning to rebuild, when she was adjudged lbw before replays showed the ball clearly hitting both bat handle and glove. There is no Decision Review System technology in place for this Ashes series, the biggest contest in the women’s game, despite it being a staple in men’s internationals. And to deny the opportunity of its use, while continuing to use women’s cricket as a development pathway for umpires, is a double blow for a sport which, if it is to succeed, needs to be taken more seriously than this currently allows.