Australia regain women’s Ashes

Second T20I victory against England gives visitors 10-4 points lead.

LONDON: Australia regained the women’s Ashes with a 20-run win over England in the second T20I at Hove on Friday.

Victory gave Australia an unbeatable 10-4 points lead in the multi-format series, which concludes with a now ‘dead rubber’ Twenty20 in Cardiff on Monday.

England captain Charlotte Edwards elected to field after winning the toss and then saw her side restrict Australia to a seemingly meagre 107-7 in 20 overs.

But England in reply collapsed to 87 all out — their lowest total in a T20I — with recalled seamer Rene Farrell taking 3-17 to win the player-of-the-match award.

England came into this match with their confidence boosted by a seven-wicket win in the first Twenty20 at Chelmsford on Wednesday.

Australia, the reigning 50-over and Twenty20 world champions, had previously won the one-off Test and two of the three ODIs.

England knew they needed to win all three Twenty20 matches to level the overall score at 8-8 and so retain the Ashes by virtue of holding them prior to this series.

But having done well in the field at Hove, they panicked with the bat as Australia, well led by 23-year-old captain Meg Lanning, won their first Ashes in England since 2001.

“It’s nice to get our hands back on those Ashes,” said Lanning. “Everyone stepped up and players like Ellyse Perry and Rene Farrell led the way — they were superb. It’s an amazing feeling to win in England, especially after such an all-round performance against a quality England side.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.