Australia lost a white ball match “in normal time*” for the first time in almost two years – since India beat them in an ODI in September 2021 – in a madcap game watched by more than 20,000 fans at The Oval. (*India did also beat them in a Super Over in 2022.)
England – and in particular Sophia Dunkley – rode their luck early on, after having been inserted by Australia for the second time running. Australia’s strategy to Dunkley was unchanged from Edgbaston on Saturday – bowl short and get her caught – but once again it didn’t really pay off. She did take on the short balls, and she didn’t do it with too much control, so there were chances, but Australia didn’t make them count, allowing her and Wyatt to hit a pretty decent 54-0 off the powerplay.
Dunks’ luck finally ran out in the 7th over, but England had a platform to reach 100-1 in the 12th over, with something close to 200 looking like a real possibility.
What happened next was the seesaw to end all seesaws. England lost 5 wickets in the space of 4 overs; their run-rate collapsed; and it appeared to be game over, as the Australian’s brought Megan Schutt back on to turn the screw.
8 ball overs were of course traditional in Australia until comparatively recently, so perhaps an 8 ball over shouldn’t have been entirely surprising; but this was one for the history books for all the wrong reasons – the extra two deliveries comprising a no-ball (smacked for 4) and a wide down the leg side that hurtled to the (very short) straight boundary. With Wyatt hitting 3 other 4s plus a single, and Ecclestone helping out with a couple, the over went for 25. In the space of 8 balls, the game had turned back in England’s favour, and Australia found themselves up Schutt’s creek.
That one over meant that England were able to drive on to a very decent total – 151 is a typical 1st innings score in T20s between the top sides, and 186 is well above par on almost any day. Wyatt finished with 76 from 46 balls; but Sophie Ecclestone’s contribution at the end was also vital. We said the other day that Ecclestone is not going to be someone that England can rely on to make runs every time, but very-much like Katherine Sciver-Brunt used to, she’ll make a handy 20 or 30 every so often, and she’ll rarely make a more important 22 than she did today, especially because it was off just 12 balls. Given the margin of victory in the end, that strike rate was key.
Australia weren’t going to go down without a fight. (Do they ever?) They got off to an even better start than England, with Healy looking in great nick, in contrast to Dunkley’s madcap antics earlier in the evening, and there were echoes in her strokeplay of 2020 at the MCG. Australia were ahead after the powerplay, but suffered something of a collapse of their own in the early middle phase, as England’s spinners collectively turned on the pressure.
Glenn and Dean were both superb in the middle phases, keeping the ball tight and giving the Australian batters no freedom to play their shots. (Dean’s final figures look a tad expensive, but she got hit by Healy early on, and then slogged out of the ground by Georgia Wareham at the end – she was better than 1-41 today.) Australia needed 15 runs per over in the death phase – surely an impossible ask?
This being Australia however they still believed they could win, and they got close with Ellyse Perry passing 50 by hitting the last two balls for 6 and getting them within 4 runs of victory. (Though to be fair, Ecclestone doubtless knew that all she needed to do with those last two balls was land them on the pitch, so she was likely focussed on that – it didn’t matter if Perry hit them for maximums, as long as the weren’t wides or no balls.)
Of course, 14/ over isn’t 15, but it is still a B.I.G. death phase, and completed Australia’s highest ever chase in T20 internationals. But it wasn’t quite sufficient. England went with the same strategy of holding back Ecclestone for the final over, and although Bell’s 19th went for 11 again, this time Ecclestone found herself defending 20 rather than 5, and England clung on.
Given that the series nonetheless stands 6-2, and England still need to win all the remaining white ball games to regain the Ashes, it is probably fair to say that it is actually still England who are up Schutt’s Creek… but with a win under their belt at last, at least now they have a paddle.
CRICKETher 
Bit of finger trouble – Wyatt was 46 balls not 64.
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Fixed. Thanks.
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A rare event indeed – Australia actually lost a game! It doesn’t happen very often in case you didn’t know! England produced something special at the Oval, with an energetic and determined performance (and I’m almost tempted to say “for the ages”) that was just good enough on the night. Australia’s bowling was sloppy again at times, and Wyatt took advantage with a typically enterprising knock. Dunkley never looked in control (Sky comms making a big deal about how she always seems to crouch into her shots) but still proved a useful contributor.
Despite the mid-innings collapse, England’s run rate didn’t drop too much – and with that poor over from Schutt afterwards, England were right back set for a 180 plus total again within an over. I’d wondered why Schutt had not featured much in the series yet, and last night we saw the answer – she’s not at her best right now. If Australia didn’t know it before they do now – England don’t let the loss of a few wickets affect them, and press on regardless.
Despite Australia’s much vaunted late innings hitting power and belief they can chase anything, this proved too much of an ask, since their own little collapse (4 wickets in that early middle phase after starting better than England) seemed to really set them back. I kept wondering when the sixes would come but Perry et al’s late assault was, amazingly, too little too late. Dean came into the game with great energy – she was a livewire in the field and, as you say, terrifically competitive.
Ultimately, and unusually, England’s bowling plan worked better than Australia’s. England went in backing their specialist spinners, whilst Australia sought to extract pace and bounce from the track using their fast bowlers and short bowling. But we’re seeing the transition from the best bowling side in the world into not quite that anymore – I’m convinced of it. Australia’s Achilles heel may now be they don’t have quite the bowling resources to be able to execute these big game plans based on bowling expertise all the time anymore. Having said that, their batters are still world beaters… surely they’ll seal the deal on Saturday.
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