England alive as Capsey cameo clinches T20 series at Lord's

Teen tyro Alice Capsey has hammered England to a second-consecutive victory over Australia in front of a record-breaking crowd at Lord's to keep the battle for the Ashes alive.

Capsey (46 off 24) combined with vice-captain Natalie Sciver-Brunt (25 off 25) to steer England to a revised target of 119 off 14 overs with four balls to spare and with five wickets in hand in the third and final T20I.

Late wickets helped Australia push England's chase into the final over; with just two runs to defend, Jess Jonassen trapped Heather Knight lbw first ball, but Dani Gibson iced victory next delivery with a reserve sweep for four.

Earlier, Ellyse Perry (34 off 25) and Grace Harris (25 off 15) and four dropped catches had helped boost Australia to 7-155 after a lacklustre start having been sent in by Knight.

Image Id: 0F542898C0024D9B9B0E33A213C3E02B Image Caption: Dani Gibson celebrates after reverse sweeping the winning runs in the third T20 // Getty

Capsey's heroics were witnessed by 21,610 people who braved the fickle London weather to help break the record attendance for a bilateral women’s game in England for the third time in the space of eight days.

The victory keeps England alive in the multi-format, points-based Ashes series; they now trail Australia 6-4 but still need to win all three remaining one-day internationals to regain the trophy.

Australia, meanwhile, require one win in a format they are currently on a 15-game winning streak in.

However, England will be buoyed by recording consecutive wins over Australia; a feat they have not managed since the T20 leg of the 2017 Ashes, which notably, was also the last time Australia lost consecutive matches, or lost a bilateral series in any format.

Danni Wyatt (26 off 15) got England's pursuit off to a flying start, hitting six boundaries in the four-over powerplay, but Megan Schutt struck back to have the England opener caught behind.

Image Id: 4F0541DAA3874BF895F5015C63D02780 Image Caption: Wyatt was named player of the three-match T20 series // Getty

Darcie Brown had Sophia Dunkley (9) out top-edging an attempted pull shot a ball later, leaving England 2-39 in the fifth.

Capsey ignited the crowd when she hit a massive six off Jess Jonassen, with the teenager looking to make her first impact on the series after twin single-digit dismissals.

She got a reprieve on 22 when Georgia Wareham put down a difficult chance running in off the rope and capitalised, while Sciver-Brunt was content to keep the scoreboard ticking as her younger counterpart took up the attack to Australia.

The 18-year-old hit a second maximum into the stands but fell just short of a half-century when she holed out the following ball.

But when she departed England needed just 12 runs off 15 balls.

Before a ball was bowled, cricketing royalty gathered to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of the creation of the women's Ashes, in the Harris Garden where signed miniature bats, a copy of the Women's Cricket Association constitution and a rules book were burnt in a wok borrowed from the Lord's kitchen on July 20, 1998.

Who will keep those Ashes come the end of this series will now be decided in the three-game one-day leg, which begins in Bristol on Wednesday.

Sent into bat with rain threatening, Alyssa Healy provided early excitement with a trio of boundaries off Charlie Dean and Sciver-Brunt, and was given a life when the former put down a return catch with the Australian captain on 13.

But Dean made amends with her next over, trapping Healy lbw for 16.

England kept Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath well contained as Australia reached 1-36 at the end of the powerplay, and the mounting pressure paid off when McGrath looked to hit Danielle Gibson over mid-off but only managed to pick out Capsey, out for 10 off 13.

Image Id: C4B295364FE44ACBBA6D9911BF241641 Image Caption: Mooney hit five boundaries in her 27-ball 32 // Getty

Mooney, one of the few Australians able to claim some familiarity with the north London venue having played a trio of games there for London Spirit last year, looked to escalate against the spin of Sarah Glenn and Sophie Ecclestone, hitting a quartet of boundaries.

But she came unstuck trying to lap Sciver-Brunt an over later, bowled for 32 off 27 as Australia reached 3-66 at the midway point of their innings.

Needing to escalate, Ashleigh Gardner cleared the boundary and was then given a life on 29 when dropped in the deep, but only added another three to her total before she was caught behind advancing on a Sciver-Brunt short ball.

Perry saw Australia past the 100-mark in the 15th over and after a brief rain delay, the allrounder launched, smacking Gibson over the rope first ball after the resumption then flaying Sciver-Brunt for a trio of fours in the 18th.

Her onslaught came to an abrupt end when she was given out lbw to Lauren Bell first ball of the 19th. Perry tried to send it upstairs but was unable to, with the Decision Review System malfunctioning – however, replays suggested her review would have been unsuccessful.

Harris then chipped in with three late boundaries as she scrambled her way to 25 before being run out off the final ball of the innings.

Australia and England now head to Bristol for the first of three sold out one-dayers in four days' time.

CommBank Ashes Tour of the UK 2023

Australia lead the multi-format series 6-4

Test: Australia won by 89 runs

First T20I: Australia won by four wickets

Second T20I: England won by three runs

Third T20I: England won by five wickets (DLS)

First ODI: July 12 at The County Ground, Bristol, 1pm (10pm AEST)

Second ODI: July 16 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, 11am (7pm AEST)

Third ODI: July 18 at The County Ground, Taunton, 1pm (10pm AEST)

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

England T20 squad: Heather Knight (c), Natalie Sciver-Brunt (vc), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Issy Wong, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danielle Wyatt