Australia have secured outright victory in the Women’s Ashes with their most dominant performance of the series, romping to a five-wicket win in the 36th over of the second ODI.
Ellyse Perry starred with bat and ball, taking 3 for 12 off seven overs as Australia restricted England to 129 runs before leading the chase with 40 runs off 64 balls on a slow pitch at Junction Oval.
Australia’s bowlers were outstanding after Meg Lanning won the toss and inserted England, who needed to win each of the two remaining ODIs to level the multi-format series.
Tahlia McGrath finished with figures of 3 for 4 off 3.2 overs, while Jess Jonassen chimed in with two wickets and Alana King and Annabel Sutherland took one apiece.
England began their innings conservatively before the miserly attack slowed them to a crawl as wickets fell with alarming regularity.
After the first ten overs, England were 1 for 40, but in the following 20 overs they could only manage 38 runs while losing a further six wickets.
The bowlers were backed up in the field by some superb fielding.
Alyssa Healy was first to make the highlights reel, claiming a brilliant diving, one-handed catch, soared to her left to snatch an edge off the bat of Tammy Beaumont and giving Perry her first ODI wicket in more than two years.
But Lanning’s one-handed take to dismiss Danni Wyatt off Sutherland was even better and without the assistance of gloves; the captain also flinging herself to the right and just holding onto the ball as she hit the ground.
Healy or Lanning?
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Which was the better one-handed catch from today's match? @auswomencricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/UqqS7Vw29r
The captain also made good use of her spinners, with the left-arm orthodox all-rounder Jonassen combining with King, who has now debuted in all three formats during the series, to stifle and frustrate England’s batters.
The meagre target of 130 set for victory was never likely to trouble Australia greatly, but England struck early to leave the home side 2 for 18 in the seventh over, Rachael Haynes caught behind off the bowling of Anya Shrubsole and Lanning bowled for a duck by a terrific delivery from Kate Cross, which nipped back off the seam between bat and pad.
But Perry steadied the chase, getting off the mark with a pair of boundaries, and her partnerships with McGrath and Ash Gardner ensured Australia reached the target with 88 balls to spare.
It was an encouraging performance from Perry ahead of the fifty-over Women’s World Cup in New Zealand next month, after she was left out of the T20 side earlier in the series.
“I think just the consistency of playing quite a lot of cricket across this series and bowling a few overs in the Test match is really helpful for rhythm in a game,” said Perry after the match. “ I always work really closely with Benny [Sawyer], our pace coach, and between game days it’s nice to tinker with things and make sure sure I’m staying on top of some technical points.
“I think it’s just consistently playing cricket and being out in the middle and getting a feel for it has been really nice.”
Australia are undefeated in the series and have one more opportunity to fine tune their game before entering quarantine for the World Cup when they take on England in the final ODI at Junction Oval on Tuesday.
