That's it from all of us. This is me, Akshay Bhide, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Ovaise and Rahul Krish and our scorer Zeeshan Naiyer. Tata. Bye Bye.
Meg Lanning | Winning Captain: "It was a good team effort from us. The bowlers set up things nicely for us and the spinners then created problems for the batters in the middle overs. We were a bit shaky with the bat while chasing. We haven't played our best in the series so far and I guess we will look to put up a complete performance in the final ODI."
Heather Knight | Losing Captain: "It was a decent wicket. We would have loved to get 200 on the board so that we would have got some chance of defending the total. We lacked partnerships while batting and it came to haunt us. Perry batted really well and we need to be on our toes in the last ODI."
Ellyse Perry | Player of the Match: "Nice to win the Ashes. Always a good feeling to get some shots away early in the innings and happy to contribute to the team's success. Was nice to see the girls finish the things."
Ellyse Perry is awarded the Player of the Match award.
Akshay: That’s it. The Australian Women chase down the total in the
36th over to win the game by five wickets. With this, they not only
retain the Ashes but win it. England never looked in the game and have suffered
another loss. The need something special to end the tour with a win in the third
ODI.
The Australian Women had a shaky start to the chase as Anya
Shrubsole removed Rachael Haynes and Kate Cross cleaned up Meg Lanning on duck.
Ellyse Perry joined Alyssa Healy and started rebuilding the innings. Perry
looked confident right from the start of her innings and played some delightful
strokes. Natalie Sciver dismissed Healy for 22 but Perry was going strong from
one end and was well-supported by Tahlia McGrath.
Cross cleaned up McGrath with a beauty but Perry made a well-composed
40 before running out herself. The English bowlers tried hard but not enough
runs on the board resulted in the Southern Stars chasing down the total in the 36th
over.
Earlier in the day, Australian skipper Meg Lanning won the
toss and opted to bowl first. The decision paid off as Perry sent back Tammy
Beaumont in the fourth over. The bowlers then bowled brilliantly and didn’t
allow the English batters to get going. The spinners then put the squeeze as England
Women were reeling at 68/7 at one stage.
Amy Jones along with Sophie Ecclestone led the recovery work
but McGrath was brought into the attack and she picked the last three wickets
in no time as the English side was knocked over on 129 in the 46th
over. Perry and McGrath finished with three wickets each, with the latter registering
her best ODI figures. It helped them knock over England on a low total before
chasing it down with five wickets in hand.
With this win, the Southern Stars have continued their dominance
over the English Women and lead the Ashes by an 8-4 margin. England Women have
failed to register a single win on the tour so far and need to be at their
absolute best to finish the Ashes on a high.
35.2 C Dean to A Gardner
4lb FOUR! Winning runs scored by Gardner. Dean was drifting down on the pads, tickles it toward the fine-leg region, leg byes given by the umpire.
35.1 C Dean to A Gardner
2 Tossed up, converted into a full toss, driven down the ground, slight miss-field from the mid-off fielder.
34.6 A Shrubsole to A Gardner
1 Full and around off stump, gets a thick outside edge towards third-man.
34.5 A Shrubsole to A Gardner
0 Fuller dilevery, driven down to the mid-on fielder for no runs.
34.4 A Shrubsole to A Gardner
0 Full and on the pads, played to short mid-wicket
34.3 A Shrubsole to A Gardner
0 Full and straight, Gardner defends it to the other end for no run.
34.2 A Shrubsole to A Gardner
4 Four!! Short and on a hip height, Gardner pulls it through square leg for a boundary there.
34.1 A Shrubsole to A Gardner
6 Six!! Full and outside off, Gardner smashes it hard over mid off region for a maximum to get closer to target.
OVER 34
Australia Women
114/5
Annabel Sutherland
3(20)
Ashleigh Gardner
18(26)
Charlie Dean
0-5(2.0)
33.6 C Dean to A Gardner
1 Full and on off, Gardner drives to mid off and takes down for a quick single.
33.5 C Dean to A Sutherland
1lb Flighted delivery outside off, Sutherland gets down on one knee and looks to sweep but misses and wears it on the pads. The ball rolls in the off side and the batters run a leg bye.
33.4 C Dean to A Sutherland
0 Fuller and straight, Sutherland drives to mid on for a single.
33.3 C Dean to A Gardner
1 Full and straight , Gardner drives down the ground to long on for a single.