The second practice match was also played at Loughborough on 28th June, 2019. This time, Australia Women won the toss and batted first.
The Australian top-order found their groove and everyone contributed. Alyssa Healy and Nicole Bolton started well with 71 runs for the first wicket coming in a quick time but Bolton was dismissed by Hartley for 34 runs. Meg Lanning added another 55 runs with Healy for the second wicket before Healy perished after scoring a half-century. Then, Meg Lanning combined with Ellyse Perry for 117 runs for the third wicket before both got out in quick succession. Both were dismissed by Alice Davidson-Richards with Meg Lanning falling 4 runs short of a well-made century and Ellyse Perry dismissed for 46. However, Ashleigh Gardner and Rachel Haynes added 93 runs in only 8.2 overs to boost their score to a more-than-competitive 337/5 in their 50 overs. Haynes was run out in the last ball for 22 but Ashleigh Gardner stormed to 59 runs off just 31 balls. Apart from the 2 important wickets by Alice Davidson-Richards, Alex Hartley and Kristie Gordon picked up a wicket each.
England Academy Women lost a wicket in the sixth over but managed to challenge Australia until the 26th over when Georgia Elwiss got out to Gardner. Gardner also accounted for Bryony Smith in quick succession to derail their chase and Fran Wilson was left to fight a lone battle. She added a further 46 runs with Sophia Dunkley for the fifth wicket. After she was dismissed by Nicola Carey for 91, no one was able to build on and they started losing wickets regularly to fall well short of the target. They ended up with 269/9 as Australia won by 68 runs. Among the Australian bowlers, Megan Schutt, Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner picked up 2 wickets each while Nicola Carey and Georgia Wareham picked up a wicket each. Ellyse Perry again had an excellent performance to show with both bat and ball along with Ashleigh Gardner.
The practice matches ended up with Australian players getting some valuable exposure to English conditions. All their players contributed which would definitely help in their preparations going into their first game in the Ashes – the first ODI in Leicester on July 2nd.
