Key events
England will need 264 to win
Geoff Lemon
Interesting day. It felt like England were on top throughout, it felt like Australia struggled, but still England put down six catches and squandered chances to make things much more difficult.
As for run chases in women’s ODIs, there have only been 15 instances of teams chasing this many or more. Australia seven times, New Zealand four, South Africa three, India once. England, never.
Notwithstanding what I said earlier about England batting confidently at the moment, this surface looks pretty slow and one that makes it difficult to time big shots. So it won’t be easy for England. The task is ahead of them.
Ahead of you is the second innings with James Wallace.
50th over: Australia 263-8 (Mooney 81, Schutt 3) Reverse paddle attempt from Megan Schutt first ball, misses that, but scoops to the leg side for two. They take the second run, rather than putting Mooney on strike. Not sure about the wisdom of that. And with a short fine leg in place, the last ball is a single.
WICKET! Wareham c Wyatt b Sciver-Brunt 12, Australia 260-8
Caught at deep midwicket going again, but 12 from 6 balls is a useful contribution.
49th over: Australia 255-7 (Mooney 76, Wareham 6) That’s so useful, having someone like Wareham to come in. Five singles off the Bell over, but she lines up the last ball and pounds it over midwicket for four.
48th over: Australia 246-7 (Mooney 73, Wareham 6) The over starts with Jonassen picking the gap at wide long on for four, but she’s out trying to reach the boundary over cover. What does Wareham do? First ball four! The right-hander slices away through deep third. Edge, but runs. Adds two more flicked off the pads. A dozen runs from the over, what Australia needed despite the wicket.
Ecclestone 1 for 58 off her 10.
WICKET! Jonassen b Ecclestone 30, Australia 240-7
Something had to give! Jonassen has to try. She backs away to open up some room, but Ecclestone from over the wicket turns the ball back in, taking off stump.
47th over: Australia 234-6 (Mooney 72, Jonassen 25) Still can’t find the fence! Bell is bowling her slower balls, lands one really well in the blockhole, sends down the next as a low full toss but Mooney finds deep midwicket on the bounce. Singles, one brace, seven from the over.
46th over: Australia 227-6 (Mooney 68, Jonassen 22) Mooney steps away to Ecclestone, trying to open up extra cover, but only gets one to long off. Jonassen tries the first shot behind the wicket, a scoop that isn’t timed but gets her two. There’s another Jonassen two on an overthrow, and two more behind square leg for Mooney. Seven from the over is decent, but they still can’t break loose.
45th over: Australia 220-6 (Mooney 66, Jonassen 17) Mooney trying to step up the pace, it’s been hard to time shots on this pitch. Cross-bat, dragged down to mid on. Similar for Jonassen. Four singles from Sciver-Brunt.
44th over: Australia 216-6 (Mooney 64, Jonassen 15) Timed drive to extra cover by Jonassen, thinks of the second, would have made it on that throw too but doesn’t go. Ecclestone the bowler, cost another run when Mooney plays the ball into the ground and bounces it past Jones behind the stumps. Still, those are the only two from the over. Ecclestone has two overs to come.
43rd over: Australia 214-6 (Mooney 63, Jonassen 14) Sliced away by Jonassen, and catch number six goes down for England. Lauren Bell diving forward at short third, gets hands to it but the ball breaks through, into the ground, up into her sternum, back into her hands. She waves a flat palm to the umpire to signal not out. No joy for Nat Sciver-Brunt with the ball after taking two catches herself.
42nd over: Australia 211-6 (Mooney 61, Jonassen 13) There’s the end of the boundary-less run for Capsey. In her ninth over, Jonassen throws the bat and gets a nick along the ground for four. With the spell broken, Mooney steps down and hits four over her head!
41st over: Australia 202-6 (Mooney 57, Jonassen 8) Ten overs to go. I reckon that England, the way they’re playing of late, should chase 250. Not that an England team ever has chased 250, mind you. Scores have historically tended to be lower than that in the women’s game. But the modern game is different, and they’re in good fettle and feeling confident. So it’s whether Australia can push the score any further than that. It’s a big ask from here.
Bell tries out the short ball a couple of times. The batters handle it with control, hitting to the sweepers. Six from the over.
40th over: Australia 196-6 (Mooney 53, Jonassen 6) Will Capsey bowl ten on the reel? Jonassen cuts a run, Mooney scoops one away, Jonassen gets a leg bye, Mooney plays tip and run. But they haven’t been game to after Capsey. She hasn’t been hit for a boundary in her whole spell.
39th over: Australia 192-6 (Mooney 51, Jonassen 5) No more wickets for Bell, as the left-handers knock a few singles. They will want to up the scoring soon, but they don’t have a great deal left in the sheds. Wareham can be very destructive, but Australia’s 10 and 11 don’t offer much batting.
Half century! Mooney 50 from 70 balls
38th over: Australia 189-6 (Mooney 50, Jonassen 3) Capsey her seventh over on the spin, and Mooney punches through cover for her 50th run. Vital contribution on this scorecard. Only three singles from Capsey again.
37th over: Australia 186-6 (Mooney 49, Jonassen 1) Even more relies on Beth Mooney now for Australia. She’s so often the one to bat through an innings. Another left-hander joins her, Jess Jonassen. Cuts a run first ball.
WICKET! Sutherland b Bell 0, Australia 185-6
Stunning delivery! Two wickets in three balls for Lauren Bell. Angles in, swings away. Gets Sutherland playing down the wrong line, then goes past her outside edge to take off stump. Has Bell skewed this match England’s way?
WICKET! Gardner c Sciver-Brunt b Bell 21, Australia 185-5
That is clutch! Brilliant piece of fielding. Big top edge from Gardner as she pulls, it goes high over the leg side but seems to have enough on it to carry the infield and land safely in the deep. Perhaps it holds up in the breeze a little. Sciver-Brunt is running back from midwicket, looking back over her left shoulder, trying to track the ball high in the air. In the end flings her hands out in front of her body and manages to hang on. Double fist pump in celebration. That’s key, knowing the damage Gardner can do late.
36th over: Australia 184-4 (Mooney 48, Gardner 21) They’re playing cautiously against Capsey. Three singles here, less than four an over across her spell. She’s slow through the air but landing it on a decent length and getting some bounce, bit of turn. Just enough to worry about.
35th over: Australia 181-4 (Mooney 46, Gardner 20) Oof, just over the top! Gardner barely clears mid on, another outstretched one-hander attempt, but this time Ecclestone is the bowler rather than the fielder. Gardner gets four. Follows it up with another over cover, then a third cut behind point. Three in four balls!
34th over: Australia 169-4 (Mooney 46, Gardner 8) A wide and some good knocking about, and Australia take seven from Capsey.
“Loving the coverage of the Mashes and Washes so far this summer, but I have to object to describing Bristol as a ‘lovely seaside town’. Anyone who has made the trek from central Bristol to Pill will know that the local seaside is neither that close, nor lovely.”
Tom Hewlett, this is the intrigue of compound versus non-compound adjectives. A lovely seaside town might follow your inference, or it might mean that I think Bristol is a lovely town (yes, yes, don’t come at me with your definitions of city) and that it happens to be near the sea. That doesn’t necessarily mean the seaside is lovely. As for saltwater proximity, I’m using the dozens of gulls circling the playing surface to rest my case.
33rd over: Australia 162-4 (Mooney 44, Gardner 4) Ecclestone back, five overs left in her allotment. And Amy Jones misses a stumping! Routine, first ball. Mooney comes down, beaten by a faster one down the leg side, might even have been deliberate by Ecclestone, but the ball bounces and Jones is not equal to it. Even if she’d fumbled that and retaken it, she might have had time to dismiss Mooney, who was yards down the track. But the ball hits the ends of her fingers and deflects away. That’s just poor.
Undaunted, Mooney advances again two balls later and smacks four over cover. Drinks.
32nd over: Australia 156-4 (Mooney 39, Gardner 4) England have kept the brakes on pretty well. Australia at less than five per over, four wickets down. Six up in the circle, only three in the deep for Capsey. An outside edge from Gardner lands safely behind point, just getting bat down when the ball was about to nail her in front of off stump.
31st over: Australia 153-4 (Mooney 37, Gardner 3) Crunched by Mooney, she’s been trudging along with a strike rate in the 50s or 60s through this innings. Gets a short one from Glenn and pulverises the pull shot along the ground. Ones and twos follow, nine from the over, a good one for Australia.
30th over: Australia 144-4 (Mooney 31) It’ll be Ash Gardner in next.
WICKET! McGrath b Capsey 24, Australia 144-4
The bails light up! She got out like that in the Test match, though that was with the left-arm spinner turning the ball slightly away from the bat. This time it’s the off-spinner not turning the ball. McGrath defends on the back foot allowing for turn, but Capsey’s ball goes straight on past the outside edge and takes off stump. The bowler stands still and raises one arm in celebration, as if saying, over here, come and surround me. Her teammates oblige.
29th over: Australia 141-3 (Mooney 30, McGrath 22) Another dicey shot! This time it’s Mooney just clearing midwicket with a heave-ho. Gets two runs, amongst a few singles from Glenn.
“Unfortunate for Ingerland that the dropsies (dropsys?) have peppered this series, much like the men’s contest,” writes Sarah Bacon. “I just … expected a bit more from this admirable team in 2023, especially when they play so regularly in the short form of the game. Am I asking too much? I hope Australia don’t exhibit the same in their reply.”
If they have dropsy then they’re in real trouble.
28th over: Australia 136-3 (Mooney 26, McGrath 21) Mooney getting itchy feet now, down to Capsey to lift the ball over cover. Picks the gap but not with enough power, gets two runs rather than four.
27th over: Australia 132-3 (Mooney 23, McGrath 20) Glenn to carry on from the Ashley Down End, driven through cover by McGrath but the outfielder keeps it to two. Mooney advances, stops, under-edges, can’t score. Three from the over.
26th over: Australia 129-3 (Mooney 23, McGrath 17) Alice Capsey on for a bowl, with her hesitant little steps like she’s trying to sneak up on an escaped pigeon. McGrath plays a potent cut shot but it’s stopped on the boundary. A bit of turn and bounce from the surface with the flight that Capsey gives the ball. Two from the over.
25th over: Australia 127-3 (Mooney 22, McGrath 16) Decent over from Glenn, two singles from it as McGrath is happy to see a few off.
24th over: Australia 125-3 (Mooney 21, McGrath 15) Another over, another thumping cover drive from McGrath for four.
So Ecclestone has had two catches dropped and dropped one. Cross has had two catches dropped and dropped one. Glenn has had a catch dropped and dropped one.
23rd over: Australia 118-3 (Mooney 20, McGrath 10) And another down, and another one down, another one bites the dust. Or the grass, any rate. Kate Cross this time. She’s had two catches missed off her own bowling, so she joins the drop club to maybe make them feel better? This one is simple, a low full toss from Glenn dipping on Mooney, who mistimes her shot towards cover. The ball is also dipping on Cross, but that should be taken. Inexplicable that England have been so poor in the field today.
22nd over: Australia 114-3 (Mooney 18, McGrath 8) Power from McGrath! Change in bowling, Cross back on. So after a couple of runs to the leg side, McGrath uses the extra pace, steps into the ball and coruscates it through cover for four.
Two balls later, guess what? Another drop. This one would have been a screamer though. Beaumont at backward point launches full length to her left, mid air as her fingers make contact. Can’t get enough purchase. A taller player might have? But they might not have got the same dynamic launch.
21st over: Australia 107-3 (Mooney 18, McGrath 1) The sun comes out at Bristol, lovely seaside town that it is. Great crowd in, most of the seats are packed out. Tahlia McGrath starts with a single.
