England kept their Ashes hopes alive with a remarkable three-run win here on Wednesday evening, handing Australia their first defeat in any format since September 2021.
Ellyse Perry struck back-to-back sixes off the final two balls to finish on 51 not out, but her efforts could not quite overhaul England’s record total of 186 for nine.
A display of clean hitting by Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney had got Australia off to a flyer, but a first international scalp for Dani Gibson and a 100th wicket in T20 internationals for the 24-year-old Sophie Ecclestone headlined an Australian collapse from 58 without loss in the powerplay to 96 for five in the 13th.
The No 8 Georgia Wareham ramped up the pressure by smashing back-to-back sixes off the 18th over, but Lauren Bell responded in the 19th by bowling her with a brilliant slower ball, and Ecclestone then kept it tight to defend 20 off the final over.
A crowd of 20,328 watched the match, fully justifying the decision to bring England Women back to the ground for the first time since the semi-final of the 2009 T20 World Cup.
Earlier, England had endured a mid‑innings blip of their own, succumbing from 100 for one to 112 for five in the space of 13 balls between the 12th and 14th overs, before Danni Wyatt’s 76 from 46 balls propelled them to their highest T20 total against Australia.
Heather Knight, playing in her 100th T20 international, had a game to forget, bowled first ball by a straight one from Annabel Sutherland, after Alice Capsey’s top edge was pouched by Healy off Sutherland’s preceding delivery. Amy Jones dug out the hat‑trick yorker, only to fall victim to a brilliant diving catch by Sutherland at long-on in the next over.
Sutherland would go on to have Wyatt caught at deep third in the 17th – but in between times, the England batter took 25 runs off one Megan Schutt over, including four successive boundaries – sliced, lofted, pulled and cut. At last, the crowd had something to shout about amid the carnage of wickets at the other end.
They also enjoyed a 12-ball 22-run cameo from Ecclestone, who was controversially adjudged not out by the third umpire in the 18th over, despite replays seeming to show her short of her ground at the non-striker’s end, and made the most of the reprieve by spearing the only six of the England innings over midwicket.
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Earlier, Sophia Dunkley had continued the charmed life she had lived on Saturday during a half-century at Edgbaston during which she was put down twice. First, she miscued yet another pull, just evading the hands of Beth Mooney running out to deep fine leg. Then, in the fourth over, she sent a shorter ball from Schutt skywards, only for the ball to slip through the outstretched hands of a sheepish-looking Tahlia McGrath at cover.
Three overs later, McGrath finally saw her off for 23 by clinging on to a catch in the same position, though only at the third attempt, after a couple of nervous juggles. But by then England had a 57-run opening partnership on the board, and the platform for a record-breaking total.
