In front of a crowd of over 4,000 at Bristol, England overcame Australia in the ICC Women’s World Cup to make it four wins on the bounce and take them one step nearer the semi-finals.
Katherine Brunt (Photo: ECB)
Katherine Brunt was awarded Player of the Match for her innings of 45 which took England to a competitive total of 259. Brunt also took 2-42 as England put the squeeze on Australia to restrict them to 256-8, three short of their target.
Left-arm spinner Alex Hartley had earlier impressed with her parsimonious spell of 10-0-31-2, which included the wickets of Beth Mooney and Meg Lanning.
England’s next match will take place at Derby on Wednesday July 12, against Australia’s trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand.
England’s innings began tentatively, suggesting the pitch was a bit more bowler-friendly than its England v South Africa counterpart. Lauren Winfield became a victim of the early tension, caught at short mid-wicket off Megan Schutt while trying to force the issue.
Jess Jonassen had opened the bowling from the Ashley Down Road End, and Sarah Taylor took an instant liking to her brand of left-arm spin. A ten-run over featuring two superb cover drives saw her removed from the attack, but Meg Lanning reinstated her immediately when Ellyse Perry was taken for ten herself.
Taylor has a reassuring presence at the crease, even when playing expansive strokes, and as she unfurled the usual repertoire there was just a hint of the magnificent Beaumont-Taylor combination that had run rings around South Africa. Unfortunately, the Australian bowlers have just that little bit more savvy about them, and they were able to tighten the screw.
After another period of scarce run-scoring, up stepped Kristen Beams to bowl Taylor off the inside edge with her first ball of the game. When Heather Knight hit her tenth delivery straight to Meg Lanning, England’s progress was stemmed severely.
Natalie Sciver and Tammy Beaumont added 46, Beaumont batting within herself as Sciver aimed to find the boundary more regularly. Then, after Sciver had also found Meg Lanning at mid-off (this time, off the bowling of Elyse Villani) Wyatt and Beaumont formed a similarly-styled partnership of 54.
Wyatt, who hasn’t had that much time at the crease so far in the tournament, played fluently for 27 (including two sixes). But, after Tammy Beaumont miscued a waist-high full toss back to Ashleigh Gardner to go for 49, Wyatt was bowled by Jess Jonassen playing across the line.
At 175 for six, in real danger of posting a sub-par total, there was an invaluable partnership from two experienced England bowlers, Katherine Brunt and Jenny Gunn. Taking minimal risk at first, they built the run-rate steadily, adding 85 runs in 12.1 overs.
The Australian target of 260 was considered by most spectators to be well within their reach, especially with the returning Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry in the batting form of her career. However, to do so would have beaten the Women’s World Cup record chase, and the Australian extras column of 32 gave some indication of how England could make it an even more testing task.
Openers Sarah Bolton and Beth Mooney played contrasting knocks; Mooney found the boundary five times in her 31, while Bolton only did so once in a 26-run. Both scored at less than four per over, though, and while they provided a solid platform, the required rate was already starting to creep up when their wickets, from Hartley (Mooney) and Gunn (Bolton) brought Perry and Lanning to the crease.
This was always destined to be the partnership that would break the game one way or the other and it started well for Australia, both players striking the ball confidently and running well between the wickets. 57 runs came in 13.3 overs at an accelerating rate, with neither the Aussie captain, nor the destructive Perry, looking in great discomfort.
With astonishing echoes of the Australia innings, though, a left-arm spinner (this time, Alex Hartley) was introduced and took the prize wicket in her very first over. It was a peach of a ball to get Lanning, bowled from a yard behind the popping crease and given plenty of flight. Drifting slightly in before turning just enough to evade the advancing batsman, it clipped the outside of off stump to delight her teammates and send ripples through a near-capacity crowd.
The atmosphere was even hotter than the weather by this stage, and with England on top the volume started to grow, a cheer for every dot ball and a groan for every boundary. Perry dominated a fourth wicket partnership of 47 with Elyse Villani before the latter was caught by Jenny Gunn at long on off Anya Shrubsole, triggering a gigantic roar from bowler and crowd alike.
Crunch time, and England’s ground fielding was excellent, exemplified by captain Heather Knight at extra cover, although the catching still leaves a little room for improvement. Anya Shrubsole had given Villani a life, putting down a fairly straight-forward chance off Hartley at mid-on, and Natalie Sciver spilled what could have turned out to be a vital chance, Ellyse Perry at deep midwicket.
The Sciver drop came in the 46th over, when Perry had 67, but Brunt returned for the 47th, bowled Alex Blackwell, and teased Perry into another skier. Again, the ball was hit high and hard to the midwicket boundary, but this time Sciver made no mistake, almost nonchalantly cupping the ball at head-height before checking her feet were just inside the boundary rope.
Perry had gone for 70, and it would be left to ‘keeper Alyssa Healy and the big-hitting Ashleigh Gardner to try and steal victory from the jaws of defeat, something they very nearly achieved. Needing 42 to win from just 18 balls, the next four deliveries went for 15, starting with a huge six over square leg from Gardner.
The noise that greeted the next ball, as Healy was trapped lbw by Hazell, was an indication both of the size of the crowd and the level of tension they were feeling. Ever-reliable, Brunt went for just six runs off the 49th over, before Jenny Gunn was given the task of seeing out the win.
16 runs were need from six balls, and six came from the first three. Gardner found the middle again off the fourth ball of the over, but the ball dropped just inside the long-on boundary with a grateful Katherine Brunt running round to hold on to the catch, but there was time for one more twist.
Jess Jonassen crunched the penultimate ball to Sciver at long-off, but the ball bounced off her as she sprawled on the rope and dribbled over for four. Six to win off the last ball, and Jonassen made another good connection, enough to put a few hearts in mouths, before the ball dropped 15 yards inside the midwicket boundary.
A riotous celebration, as much for the spectacle as for the England win, and a well-deserved player-of-the-match performance from Katherine Brunt with 45 not out and two for 42 from nine overs. England face New Zealand next, with one foot in the semi-finals, and if Derby is treated to half the game we saw here, they’ll be going home happy.
You can see the full scorecard here.
Report courtesy of the ECB
