England – 284/8
Australia – 257/9
ENG won by 20 runs (DLS)
POM- Heather Knight 88*of 80 balls.
Australia Win the series by 2-1
Not a single fan have expected that the Blackwell and McGrath will help them to cross the line by scoring 31 in last over .But the joy and the celebration seen in the face of Taylor as Blackwell was caught by Sciver , proved itself how desperate was England to win the match.
Though they lost the series it is a morale booster for them for the upcoming Test match.
Knight didn’t repeat the same mistake of the last match and decided to bat first after winning the toss.
The start wasn’t a great one. It has been the area of concern for England in all the three matches. Both Perry and Schutt kept the ball in line and didn’t game much room to free the arms. That causes the downfall of Winfield (0) who found herself in-front of the stump after facing 10 deliveries off the bowling of Perry. Sarah Taylor whose willow has been silent till the match, found the boundaries very frequently. Both She and Beaumont started to build the innings. When Sarah found the tiniest of gaps within both off side and on side Beaumont paced her innings calm and composedly. Eye-soothing innings of 69 of Taylor’s came to an end when she was caught by Jonassen of the bowling of Schutt. There partnership of 122 runs consolidated the England innings.
Tammy Beaumont (74) also became the 2nd victim of Schutt who was rewarded for her accurate bowling. 192/2 soon became 201/5 after little middle order collapse but the skipper rose to the occasion this time. Knight was very much criticized for her innings oh 15 of 31 balls in the first ODI but in today’s match she proved why she is regarded as one of the finest player in ODI cricket. She took her time when Beaumont was batting. But as wickets started to fall she took the car to the 4th gear. She started to hit the ball out of the park, when lower middle order supported their skipper well. She made her fifty and played fearless cricket which resulted 88* of 80 balls with the strike rate of 110. England reached to a decent total of 284 at the loss of 8 wickets. From the Australian point of view Megan Schutt who has been in sensational form took 4 wickets again by just giving 44 runs, taking her tally of wickets to 10 in this ODI series. She was well supported by all rounder Ellyse Perry who picked up 2.
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In reply, Healy and Bolton started well. Healy as usual taking advantage of the power-play stared to play her shorts. The rain interruption which curtailed the over and set the revised target of 279 in 48 over, unable to put an end to the run flowing. The partnership crossed the 100 run mark. 106/0 at the end of the 20 over was a decent score, both the batter were well set and Australia needed to accelerate the innings from there on. But at that moment Healy lost her wicket after well made 71 to left arm spinner Hartley. This wicket at the one hand slowed the run rate as the new batter Perry took her time to settle down. The partnership with Bolton was going at great gun and Bolton (62) completed her half century. From 170/2 after 32 over, within no time the score showed 206/6 in 40.2 over. That means in crucial middle over which included batting power play as well the Southern Stars managed to score only 36 runs in 8 over and lost crucial wickets like Perry, Villani, Skipper Haynes and all rounder Gardner.
This 8/10 over turned out to be crucial in the context of the match. In the middle over pacer like Gunn and Sciver and spinner Hartley at the one hand choked the run and as consequences wicket fell at regular interval. Partnership didn’t build and run-rate increased with every passing over. All Australia needed was a heroic from Alex Blackwell playing her 250th ODI match and one or two supporting cameo role. But to Australia’s disdain nothing came. England kept building pressure and Australia felt like a pack of cards. Sciver’s economical bowling of 2/24 in 8 over on a batting pitch put the final nail in the coffin. Jenny Gunn (2/59) , Shrubsole(1/40) and Hartley (3/ 45) supported her well. Schutt scored 6 runs in last two balls but it was not enough. Ultimately Australia fell 20 run short of the revised target and ended with the score of 259/9.