Two Mistakes Cost England Dearly in First Match of Women's Ashes

The Women’s Ashes series began with a brilliant and enthralling first encounter between Australia and England at Allan Border Field, and it has set up the whole series as an enthralling contest. The game ebbed and flowed in both teams’ direction, and the longer it went on the more you feel as though England has only themselves to blamed for not being one game up. There was no lack of intensity or tension in the match, and it was a great advertisement for the game of cricket.

Two key moments can be found to see how the game changed in momentum, and can be pinpointed as the reason that Australia was able to get up in this contest.

1. The run out of Lauren Winfield. England was cruising batting first, 2/103 in the 23rd over with Winfield and Sarah Taylor setting up what looked to be a platform to launch from for a huge final total. 250 looked like it was going to be an absolute minimum which would be enormously difficult to chase. Then both batsmen had a brain fade, as Winfield glided to short third man where Jess Jonassen leapt on the ball – but for some reason both women were in the middle of the wicket, Winfield having run and Taylor watching the ball hadn’t called no. Winfield was run out terribly, and the momentum changed. The Aussies intensity on the field picked up, the bowlers bowled tremendously, and a score of 250-280 was restricted to 9/228 off fifty overs. That wicket changed the match.
2. The dropped caught and bowled of Alex Blackwell. With Australia building carefully, though four wickets down, Blackwell was the obvious leader with the bat and looked to be the key. In the 33rd over when she was on 35, she was fooled by an excellent delivery from Alex Hartley, and hit it straight back to her. Hartley dropped the chance. It was the second game changer. At five wickets down and the top five back in the pavilion, England would have been in the box seat to shut down the match. Blackwell stayed, and was still there at the end when Australia passed the total required with two wickets in hand and five balls remaining. Blackwell had indeed been the key, and the life she received was the missed wicket that changed the match.

There were two other stars for Australia who contributed so much to this victory. Amanda-Jade Wellington came on during the Above England partnership, and bowled as good a spell of leg spin bowling as you could hope to see at such a time of such an important match. She threw the ball up to the bat and spun it hard, consistently beating the edge of the bat, and tying the up in knots. It was a pleasure to watch, and her figures of 0/39 from 10 overs do not accurately reflect how important the early spell was, and how much it contributed to the reeling in of the England innings. It was wonderful stuff. Then there was the cameo innings of Ash Gardner at the end of the Australian innings that was so important to the victory. Coming in at 6/181, with 48 required from 44 balls, Gardner batted fearlessly and took all of the pressure off her senior partner Blackwell, scoring 27 from 18 deliveries with two fours and two sixes. It left Australia needing 9 runs from 15 balls when she departed, a much more comfortable target than when she entered the fray.

While Australia gain the first two points in the Women’s Ashes, England were not far away from having them themselves. The Aussies will know they will need to improve in all areas against this very good England team if they are going to win the series. The two upcoming games in Coffs Harbour this week should be equally fascinating viewing.

Scorecard: Women's Ashes 1st ODI: Australia vs England