So near and yet so far. England did all the hard yards in the second Women’s Ashes ODI at Melbourne on Tuesday, wiping Australia out for 180 after inducing one of their worst ever batting collapses – eight Australian wickets lost for 49 runs.
Then, despite wobbling to 125 for eight, England somehow managed to stagger to within 22 runs of their target, courtesy of a patient rearguard 47 not out from Amy Jones and the determination of England’s Nos 10 and 11. Lauren Filer and Lauren Bell survived 29 balls between them as Jones tried her level best to ensure that the required run-rate did not quite reach insurmountable levels, while also farming the strike.
The final few overs were a chaotic blur: four dropped catches from the usually flawless Australian fielders, before Annabel Sutherland was forced from the attack after she sent down two above-waist-height no balls in the 48th. Tahlia McGrath stepped up and finished the over. But the 11th-hour drama appeared to confuse Jones, who failed to run a straightforward single off the final ball of the over, leaving Bell to face the start of Megan Schutt in the 49th. Schutt promptly bowled her and Australia could finally celebrate.
“We got ourselves into a winning position and we let it go,” Alice Capsey said. “We’ve missed a real opportunity to get two points on the board. There’ll be severe disappointment within the group.”
This was England’s big opportunity to square the Ashes at 2-2, after Australia’s impermeable middle order had finally been penetrated by an unlikely source – Alice Capsey’s off-spin. As Sophie Ecclestone created her usual chaos at the other end, Capsey saw off Sutherland, robbed Ellyse Perry of a century and bamboozled Ash Gardner with a fizzing off-break. Combined with sharp catching and even sharper use of DRS – England required the intervention of third-umpire technology to snag the wickets of Perry and Beth Mooney leg-before – England pulled off the remarkable feat of seeing off the reigning world champions for less than 200. It was the first time since 2009 that they have failed to reach that total when batting first in a home ODI. And still it wasn’t quite enough.
It was leg-spinner Alana King who ultimately strangled England’s run-chase, finishing with four for 25. Afterwards, she admitted the scale of the challenge: “We knew we were sub-par and we knew it was going to take a little bit of grit. But that’s the beauty of this group – we never back down, even if our backs are against the wall.”
Making ready use of the unexpected turn and purchase on offer at the Junction Oval, she first bowled Danni Wyatt-Hodge for a golden duck, then had Nat Sciver-Brunt caught at cover. And still England decided to take her on: both Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone bizarrely deciding that King’s last over was the right time to accelerate the scoring rate.
Dean was caught at slip trying to scoop, before Ecclestone made to cut and edged behind. The hat-trick ball missed Filer’s bat by inches, only for Filer to run herself out in the 43rd.
Capsey batted away any suggestions that England had handled the pace of their run-chase poorly, having herself taken 77 balls to add 36 runs in conjunction with Jones, arguably leaving England with too much to do as the match neared its conclusion. “If we’d lost an extra wicket or two early, then maybe we get criticised for taking a shot too early,” she said. “In that situation it’s a no-win.”
after newsletter promotion
Still, if only Capsey the batter could have matched the feats of Capsey the bowler, England would have won. The sum total of her contribution in the opening match of the Women’s Ashes was scoring four runs and shelling a sitter of a catch on the boundary. In less than 48 hours she dusted herself off, jumped on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne, and apparently also found the time to convince captain Heather Knight that she should bowl some overs. The result? Three wickets for 22 runs in seven overs, including two wicket-maidens.
“It was really pleasing to get an opportunity with the ball,” Capsey said. “I don’t bowl a huge amount for England, so when I do get the opportunity, I try and take it with both hands. I’ve had a bit of success during the Big Bash and my confidence is high.”
Four-nil to Australia, then, as both teams fly to Hobart for the final ODI on Friday. England’s question to themselves will surely be: if we couldn’t even beat Australia on a day when their middle-order turned to rubble, then when can we?
