England down Aussies in Super Over thriller

The match in a tweet: Heather Knight stars as England prevail in a Super Over, despite a fighting effort from an Aussie debutante

The Super Over: Australia 0-8 (Gardner 5*, Healy 3*; Ecclestone 0-8) lost to England 0-10 (Knight 9*, Wyatt 1*; Perry 0-10)

The score (after 20 overs): England 4-156 (Knight 78, Wilson 39*; Perry 1-9) tied with Australia 8-156 (Mooney 65, Sutherland 22*; Glenn 3-28)

The revival: Australia looked down and out at 7-117 after 17 overs, still 40 runs shy of their target. Enter Annabel Sutherland. On debut, the pressure on the 18-year-old allrounder was immense but she embraced the chance to play with utter freedom, hitting Katherine Brunt for three consecutive boundaries. Batting with less-heralded bowlers Georgia Wareham (6 from 5) and Delissa Kimmince (15no from 6), Sutherland’s 22no (11) helped the Australians put on 40 runs from 18 balls to send the match to a Super Over.

The hero: England captain Heather Knight hit a personal best T20I score of 67 in Friday’s opener against India and she went better again against the world No.1 Australians on Saturday, plundering 78 from 45 deliveries. She came to the crease under pressure with her team 2-32 in the eighth over and was handed a life early when Sutherland put down a difficult chance off leg-spinner Wareham in the ninth. She then steadied before putting the pressure straight back on the Australian bowlers, finding the boundary eight times and cleared it thrice during a superb captain’s knock, only dismissed from the penultimate ball of the innings. She returned in the Super Over to ice a thrilling victory.

The supporting cast: Knight put on 115 in just 11 overs for the third wicket with Fran Wilson – who struck her own excellent 28-ball 39no – giving the visitors all the momentum heading into the innings break after what had been an outstanding start from the Australian bowlers in the power play. With the ball, England’s spinners tied down the Australian batters and made crucial breakthroughs. Leg-spinner Sarah Glenn – an opponent new to the hosts – struck three times to claim the key wickets of Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry and Rachael Haynes.

The consolation acts:  Beth Mooney (65 off 45) came into this tri-series off a stunning Rebel WBBL campaign where she averaged 74.3 and she quickly signalled that could well continue in 2020 as she struck two boundaries from Katherine Brunt’s opening over. She ticked over 1000 T20I runs on her way to a 35-ball half-century but could not do enough to get her team over the line, stumped off the bowling of Natalie Sciver in the 17th over.

With the ball, Perry was superb in the power play – so impressive that captain Lanning opted to bowl out her pace weapon in the first seven overs. Perry conceded just nine runs from her four overs, bowling 16 dot balls and picking up the wicket of England opener Danni Wyatt. She dismissed England’s other opener, Amy Jones, five times during last year’s Ashes in the UK and she continued her hold over the wicketkeeper-batter on Saturday. Jones managed to score just five runs from 16 Perry deliveries faced, pressure that contributed to the dismissal of Wyatt. Perry also made her presence felt in the field, taking an excellent running catch at long off to remove the dangerous Natalie Sciver for four.

The debut: Teenage allrounder Sutherland was handed Australia T20I cap No.53 by former Aussie batter and current CA high performance coach Leah Poulton and it didn’t take long for her to be put under the pump, thrown the ball in the power play. Her first outing with the ball did not go to plan, hit for 23 from two overs, but with the bat she demonstrated why she is so highly rated, producing some delightful cricket shots in the aforementioned knock that took the game to a Super Over.

The run out: Jess Jonassen pulled off an outstanding direct-hit run out to send English opener Amy Jones on her way in the eighth over. Jones, who had struggled to score against the Australian new-ball attack, was caught well short of her ground when she rolled the dice on the dangerous arm of Aussie allrounder Jonassen.

The stat: Perry’s 1-9 from four overs was the fifth time the allrounder has conceded fewer than 10 runs in her completed four overs in a T20I. 

The next stop: Australia will need to quickly recover before returning to Manuka Oval on Sunday, where they will meet India. England now head to Melbourne, where they will meet India in the next phase of the tri-series at Junction Oval on Friday.

CommBank T20I tri-series

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

First T20I: January 31, India beat England by five wickets

Second T20I: February 1, England beat Australia in Super Over Australia v England, Manuka Oval

Third T20I: February 2, Australia v India, Manuka Oval

Fourth T20I: February 7, India v England, Junction Oval

Fifth T20I: February 8, Australia v India

Sixth T20I: February 9, Australia v England

Final: February 12, Junction Oval

* All matches will be broadcast on the Seven Network and Fox Cricket, live stream on Kayo and the CA Live app or listen on ABC Grandstand

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Warm-ups

February 15: Australia v West Indies, Allan Border Field

February 18: Australia v South Africa, Karen Rolton Oval

Tournament

February 21:Australia v India, Sydney Showgrounds

February 24: Australia v Sri Lanka, WACA Ground

February 27: Australia v Bangladesh, Manuka Oval 

March 2: Australia v New Zealand, Junction Oval

March 5: Semi-final 1, SCG

March 5: Semi-final 2, SCG

March 8: Final, MCG

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE

* All matches will be broadcast on Fox Cricket and Kayo, while Australia’s matches will also be broadcast on the Nine Network