Australia beat England by eight wickets in the third and final ODI of the Women's Ashes to finish the multi-format series as 12-4 winners; Tammy Beaumont made 50 but England were bowled out for 163 with Annabel Sutherland taking 4-31; the home side cruised to the target in 36.2 overs
Tuesday 8 February 2022 12:52, UK
Australia claimed an emphatic eight-wicket win in the third and final one-day international of the Women's Ashes to leave England winless at the end of the multi-format series.
The home side saved their most dominant performance for last as they bowled England out for 163 before knocking off the runs with 13.4 overs to spare in Melbourne to finish the series as 12-4 winners.
England struggled after opting to bat first but while the run-rate was slow, an 88-run third-wicket stand between Tammy Beaumont (50) and Nat Sciver (46) seemed to have set the platform before a collapse of 8-57 saw the tourists bowled out with three balls of the innings remaining.
Annabel Sutherland (4-31) claimed four of those wickets and then it was over to the Australian batters with Alyssa Healy (42) and Rachael Haynes (31) putting on 74 for the first wicket before Meg Lanning (57no) and Ellyse Perry (31no) took over.
The pair added an unbroken 90 to take Australia to victory in the 37th over with Lanning finishing the job in style as she thumped Tash Farrant over long off for six.
Heather Knight won the toss and elected to bat as England handed a debut to Emma Lamb. However, the 24-year-old opener was bowled second ball by a beauty from Perry that nipped away off the seam to beat the edge and crash into the stumps in the second over.
The timbers were disturbed again soon after as player of the series Tahlia McGrath castled Knight (9) with a yorker speared in at off stump to leave England 19-2.
Beaumont and Sciver looked to consolidate and rebuild but found scoring tricky for the majority of their 25 overs in the middle together, both striking at a fraction under 50 across their innings.
Beaumont made it to her eighth ODI half-century but got no further and after hitting Alana King (1-29) to mid-off as she tried to hit over the top to trigger the collapse.
Danni Wyatt (9) was next to go, caught in the deep off Sutherland, with Sciver lbw to Megan Schutt in the next over after a review before Sutherland yorked Sophie Ecclestone (2) to make it three wickets in three overs.
Schutt (2-25) bowled Amy Jones (4) to remove the last recognised England batter as the visitors subsided, Charlie Dean (18no) only the third player to reach double figures as they were all out in 49.3 overs.
Any hopes of an England fightback with the ball were quickly brushed away by the Aussie openers as Healy and Haynes breezed through the powerplay unscathed with the pitch that the away side had found so tough to negotiate looking increasingly flat.
Freya Davies (1-46) eventually found the breakthrough at the end of the 16th over, a leading edge from Healy looping to Beaumont at point, and Haynes fell to the economical Ecclestone (1-18) in the next, Lamb with the catch at mid-off.
Those two quick wickets did little to slow Australia though, with Lanning and Perry able to score freely - only Ecclestone of the England bowlers going at less than four runs per over - and were soon closing in on their target.
Lanning reached her 14th ODI fifty from 62 balls and, perhaps in a rush to get her hands on the trophy, sealed the win by hitting Farrant high over long off for six.
England captain Heather Knight: "It was not the ideal build-up but we made the best of a bad situation. We went toe-to-toe at certain times, we'll be frustrated with a few big moments we didn't win. We will be a bit frustrated there were a few opportunities missed.
"The last two games aren't a reflection of us as a side. We were a bit fatigued and a bit tired. It was a brilliant Test match and gutting that we couldn't get over the line. We haven't quite nailed it in the ODI series. A few little tweaks we need potentially with the bat and we're looking forward to getting to New Zealand."
Australia captain Meg Lanning: "It's been an outstanding series. I'd would like to thank England for coming out and being part of the series.
"We've had so many contributors and haven't relied on one or two players. That holds us in good stead moving forwards. There's always a few spanners that get thrown at us, we've done an extremely good job in adapting the things that have been thrown at us. That gives us a lot of confidence.
"Today was a complete performance with bat and ball. Enjoy this win, it's a massive achievement then we'll adjust to those conditions in New Zealand."
Heather Knight's side now head to New Zealand where they will hope to shake off the disappointment of their Ashes defeat as they aim to defend their Women's Cricket World Cup crown. The tournament starts on March 4 and England start their campaign the following day against... Australia. Meg Lanning's side will be the team to beat again.
England men, meanwhile, will be in the Caribbean next month for a three-Test series against the West Indies, starting in Antigua (March 8), continuing in Barbados (March 16) and concluding in Grenada (March 24). Joe Root will remain captain for that series with Paul Collingwood stepping in as interim head coach.
