A match-winning partnership between England's Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor has kept the Women's Ashes alive
Match Report:
ScorecardEngland snap Stars' winning streak
The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars’ record Twenty20 winning run has been snapped by an England team desperate to keep the Women’s Ashes alive.
Sent in to bat at Chelmsford, the Southern Stars managed a below par 8-122 from their 20 overs and the hosts reached the target with seven wickets and 15 balls to spare, breaking Australia’s run of 16 consecutive victories in the format.
England need to win all three T20s to avoid handing the Ashes back to Australia and they stamped their authority early in Essex, with frontline bowlers Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt putting plenty of pressure on Australia’s new opening partnership of Ellyse Perry and Elyse Villani from the first ball.
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Villani and Perry walk out to bat in front of a sell-out crowd // Getty Images
Shrubsole found the first breakthrough when Villani ballooned up a return catch and while skipper Meg Lanning combined with Perry in a 45-run partnership, they were frustrated by accurate bowling from the England attack and once Lanning (28 off 25) and Perry (30 off 37) departed, the Stars continued to lose regular wickets on their way to 8-122 off 20 overs.
Natalie Sciver‘s 2-18 included the key wickets of Perry and Jess Jonassen, while economical displays from Brunt (0-18) and Shrubsole (1-15) kept Australia’s scoring under control.
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Lanning scored 28 for the Stars // Getty Images
The Southern Stars struck early in England’s chase, with Laura Winfield chipping to Elyse Villani at mid-on for one, but the arrival of wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor at the crease turned affairs firmly in the hosts’ favour.
Combining with skipper Edwards, Taylor played the aggressor in their 77-run partnership, taking Jess Jonassen and Sarah Coyte to task to bring the run rate back under a run a ball.
Erin Osborne found the breakthrough in the 14th over when Edwards (39 off 42) was stumped by Alyssa Healy, but Sciver (20 off 10) ensured no loss of momentum accompanied the wicket.
When Taylor was out stumped, dancing down the pitch at an Erin Osborne delivery, her team was left needing just 19 off 25 with seven wickets in hand.
A visibly disappointed Taylor departed for 50 off 43 – her 11th T20 fifty – and while her dismissal gave the Southern Stars a hint of hope, Brunt quickly extinguished that optimism when she sent the first and fourth balls of Perry’s final over to the boundary.
Watch: Taylor's match-winning fifty (Aus only)
Sciver sealed the seven-wicket victory in the 18th over, keeping England’s hopes of retaining the Ashes alive in the process.
“Unfortunately we were unable to get going with the bat, we kept losing wickets at regular intervals and 122 wasn’t going to be enough in the end,” Lanning told Sky Sports after the match.
“We were off in all departments really.
“Defending 122, we were going to have to take early wickets and we didn’t do that.”
The Southern Stars need to win one of the final two T20s to regain the trophy, with their next showdown against England to be played in Hove on Friday (4am Saturday AEST).