An Australia vs. England game in any gender ot format is true rivelry and not a war type , encounter that has given birth to bad example and sportsmanship which the public witnessed in a recently concluded Multi tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
The English Women, put into bat by Australia and had to play this game without regular skipper Alyssa Healy, who is nursing a calf injury. Hence, Tahila Mcgrath took over duties.
England got off to a good start with Ammy Jones and Tamy Beaumont , playing the Australian seam attack with ease whilst stiching a partnership of 55 , but Ammy Jones played the wrong line to a Sutherland back of a length delivery to be bowled for 18 , that opened the door for Heather Knight, to join Tammy Beaumont.
The pair looked comfortable as England advanced to 90 for 1 wicket in the 18th over , having a cautious approach with a mindset of having wickets in hand and open shoulders around the 35th over.
Indore Stadium is a venue that is excellent for batting. Hence, England was looking at a score of around 320 to defend against the strong Australian batters lineup.
The turning point was Heather Knight, who is an exceptional player against spiTn being dismissed for 20 LBW off left arm orthodox spin of Sophie Molineux , which was actually upheld through a DRS referral.
England’s top order with the score on 90 for 2 started falling apart with the departure of Nat Sciver Brunt brilliantly caught at the cow corner by Volt off a Sutherland delivery for 7 , hence the flood gates opened.
Tammy Beaumont made 76 , but Sophie Dunkley and her struggle in this World Cup had its toll on the English batting. Dunkley used 48 deliveries for her 22 runs , this gave Australia the camel head into the English tent.
Alice Capsey and Charlie Dean built a 61 run partnership for the 7th wicket with the former scoring 38 off 32 balls with 5 boundaries and the latter 26 with 3 boundaries as England struggled against the leg spin of Alina King who had match winning figures of 10 overs 1 maiden 20 runs for 1 wicket.
The squeeze that Alina King put onto the English batters helped Annabel Sutherland to exploit and pick up 3 wickets despite leaking 60 runs , and Ash Gardner showing a prowess off spin scalping 2 for 39 , by restricting England to below par score of 244 for 9 wickets in their alloted 50 overs.
Australia without Alyssa Healy to open the batting were in for an unexpected surprise by the English seamers Laura Bell and Lindsay Smith. The Aussies were struggling on 3 wickets for 24 and lost Beth Mooney caught by Nat Sciver Brunt, a blinder of a catch at short extra cover off Eccleston for 20 runs , with the Australian team in the hutch shaking their heads showing signs of distress. It was Beth Mooney who stroked a classy 100 against Pakistan in Colombo to pull them out of embarrassment against Pakistan, guess with the rest of the batters being all rounders the worrying factor was fair enough.
Remember Australia bat deep. They have all the rounders who can be in a playing eleven picked up to play as specialist batters or bowlers in the order of a Jark Kallis, the South African all-rounder.
Annabel Sutherland was at the wickets at the fall of Beth Mooney. All rounder Ash Gardner joins Sutherland batting at number 6.
Remember Gardner made a century at this venue against New Zealand. Hence, the Australian dug out was optimistic, taking into account the Aussie grit.
The pair stitched an unbroken partnership of 180 in 151 deliveries, Ash Gardner remained unbeaten on 104 off 73 deliveries with a fantastic strike rate of 142.4 l, thus scoring her second World Cup century, whilst Annabel Sutherland kept her company thumping 96 in 112 balls with 9 boundaries and a six , as Australia get hone with a comprehensive win by 6 wickets 9.3 overs to spare.
If you are a Sri Lankan fan l, remember I was critical about Nilukshi Silva and Hasini Perera because they were as a batting pair in a similar situation 171 runs for 4 wickets, but threw their opponents by being bowled out for 203 all out, but the Aussie batters from a similar condition reach the target without losing any wickets that too scoring 40 runs more with 9.3 overs to spare.
This is commitment and intent, skill, and being professional and match awareness.
Lesson for the FC Sri Lankan lassies on how to be competitive and find favour to play in different franchise opportunities.
Main scores
England 244 for 9
Tammy Beaumont 76 , Alice Capsey 38 , Charlie Dean 26 , Heather Knight 20
Alina King 10/1/20/1
Annabel Sutherland 3 for 60
Ash Gardner 2 for 39
Australia 248 for 4 in 40.3 overs
Ash Gardner 104 not out
Annabel Sutherland 96 not out
Laura Bell 1 for 48
Lindsay Smith 2 for 48
Sophie Eccleston 1 for 62
Australia won by 6 wickets
