LONDON, United Kingdom, Jan 30 – England are already on the back foot in their attempt to avoid a 16-0 clean sweep in the Women’s Ashes, having been bowled out for 170 on day one of the one-off Test.
Leg-spinner Alana King took 4-45 as England crumbled inside 72 overs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
All-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt provided the only resistance for England with a gritty 51 from 129 balls amid an array of wasteful dismissals.
England then bowled 22 overs at the end of the day, in favourable conditions with the pink ball under floodlights, but Phoebe Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland batted sensibly to reach 56-1 at the close of play, trailing by 114 runs.
Earlier, England had been put in to bat and it took just four balls for the all-too-familiar batting woes to resurface with Maia Bouchier caught behind in Kim Garth’s opening over.
Garth also removed captain Heather Knight for 25, Tammy Beaumont was trapped lbw by Darcie Brown for eight before a stand of 50 between Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley led a rebuilding effort from 47-3.
But Australia expertly exposed England’s spin weaknesses once more as they lost four wickets to King and Ash Gardner combined in the afternoon session to dent any hopes of posting a competitive total.
Australia will be confident of accelerating on day two with their formidable batting depth, having only lost debutant Georgia Voll to Lauren Bell for 12.
Having won all six preceding white-ball matches, Australia are now eyeing all 16 points from the series, which has never been achieved in the multi-format Ashes.
England’s spin troubles continue
It was another formidable effort from Australia’s all-round bowling attack, kickstarted by the relentless accuracy of their seamers and backed up by the theatre created by King’s spin.
Bouchier’s horrid run at the top of the order continued as she fell for two, meaning she has scored 41 runs in six innings across the series, prodding at a good-length delivery from Garth’s fourth ball as the hosts took immediate control.
At the other end, Brown complemented her opening partner beautifully with a fiery spell of fast bowling that saw Beaumont plumb in front.
Knight thwarted them for 50 balls before falling in the same manner and while Sciver-Brunt looked solid, England’s middle order once again came completely unstuck as soon as the spinners came to the fore.
Bowling after tea, King had Dunkley caught and bowled for 21 and Danni Wyatt-Hodge was caught at short leg by a diving Litchfield for 22 as both players continued the frustrating trend of making starts but failing to capitalise.
Amy Jones missed a straight one from Gardner for three and in the following over, Sophie Ecclestone’s dismissal – swiping the ball straight to Garth at cover after seven balls – somewhat summarised England’s tour.
Ryana Macdonald-Gay admirably held firm for 15 from 66 balls but could do little else to prevent yet another thoroughly dominant Australian performance.
Australia settle in as England bowlers toil
With conditions in their favour in the evening session, England’s seamers performed admirably considering the poor batting effort that had just unfolded.
Bell continued her fine series as she plugged away at a full length to the openers, eventually getting her reward as Voll was tempted into driving and edged behind to Jones.
Fellow seamers Filer and Sciver-Brunt were equally economical and gave little away but credit must be given to Australia’s young batters who smartly withstood the threat.
Sutherland was moved up the order to three after an injury to Ellyse Perry and immediately looked at home, making 24 from 51 balls, while left-hander Litchfield battled to 20 by playing the swinging ball late.
England opted for the extra pace of Macdonald-Gay over Charlie Dean’s off-spin but that could come in to question considering the turn that King extracted in the first innings.
Ecclestone should be prepared for another of her long spells on day two, as Australia will look to cash in with a batting line-up that boasts the formidable Tahlia McGrath all the way down at number eight.
‘We parked the rest of the series’
England seamer Lauren Bell: “It was up and down as Test cricket is. We dug pretty deep to get a total and had a lot of energy. As a seam bowler, it’s a nice surface to bowl on. It’s got a lot of lateral movement so we’ll just have to play with that.
“Test match cricket is special, it feels quite separate from the rest of the series. You’re playing a Test match at MCG, it’s exciting, everyone gets excited about it. Our focus was on this, we parked the rest of the series.”
Australia bowler player Darcie Brown: “It was a really positive day for us. It’s always nice to bowl them out on the first day and have a bat. We’ve only lost one wicket which puts us in a good position for tomorrow.”
England batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge, speaking to TNT Sports: “It was really tough. It was one of those pitches where you really had to grind for your runs.”
