On July 12, Wednesday, England and Australia squared up at the County Ground in Bristol to start the eagerly awaited ODI series of the Women’s Ashes 2023. The next three games were all must-wins for the home team as they sought to win the Ashes series, while the visitors needed just one victory to retake the Ashes. Nevertheless, England eventually outplayed Australia to take a 1-0 lead, squaring the Ashes series at 6-6 and maintaining their chances of winning it.
When Australia won the toss and chose to bat first, everything started. When Australian captain Alyssa Healy was bowled out on the fourth delivery of the match by seamer Kate Cross, the choice appeared to backfire.
The Australian top-order batsmen Phoebe Litchfield (34 off 36) and Ellyse Perry (41 off 51) made an effort to recover from the early setback and put up a 61-run partnership for the second wicket before the former was caught by Sophie Ecclestone and dismissed by Natalie Sciver-Brunt.
Then, Australia relied on Perry’s cool-headed innings and middle-order batter Beth Mooney’s undefeated 99-ball 81 to keep the visiting team going. The English bowlers continued to take wickets at regular intervals, which halted Australia’s momentum, but they were unable to stop Mooney from attacking. Australia finished their innings at 263/8 in 50 overs with some late help from Jess Jonassen (30 off 39) and Georgia Wareham (12 off 6).
Heather Knight is the captain of England’s record-breaking team.
With Perry’s successful dismissal of opener Sophia Dunkley in the fourth over, England also suffered a significant setback early on in their pursuit. However, Tammy Beaumont and Alice Capsey quickly corrected the situation by putting together a 74-run partnership for the second wicket. Wareham dismissed Beaumont, who was only three runs shy of a half-century, then Capsey soon after, giving the Australian bowlers two significant wickets.\
Heather Knight, the captain, managed to keep the scoreboard going but was unable to put up a strong middle partnership. Her 42-run partnership with Nat Sciver-Brunt kept England in contention, but the tide turned after his dismissal. Knight took up the run-scoring duties, as Danni Wyatt, Amy Jones, Sophie Ecclestone, and Sarah Glenn were unable to deliver.
England regained control of the match thanks to some outstanding support from Kate Cross under duress over the final few overs of the chase. In an unbroken 32-run winning stand with Heather Knight for the ninth wicket, Kate hit four boundaries and contributed significant runs. Australia’s 15-match winning streak in ODIs came to an end as Knight struck the winning runs and made 75* off 56 as the hosts secured a stunning victory.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
ENGLAND HAVE DONE IT WHAT A PERFRORMANCE WHAT A SERIES !!!!!!
FROM 0-6 TO 6-6 THE ASHES ARE WELL AND TRULY ALIVE ๐๐๐#Ashes pic.twitter.com/ZFHZvRQtjS
โ England’s Barmy Army ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ๐บ (@TheBarmyArmy) July 12, 2023
Megan Schutt joins Ellyse Perry as the second Australian to take 250 international wickets across all formats of the game! ๐
Incredible longevity #Ashes pic.twitter.com/jOdt3BlA6C
โ Australian Women’s Cricket Team ๐ (@AusWomenCricket) July 12, 2023
HEATHER KNIGHT. KATE CROSS. ๐ฎ#BBCCricket #Ashes pic.twitter.com/7mNkGlSQyQ
โ Test Match Special (@bbctms) July 12, 2023
The Womenโs Ashes are reaching a crescendo
After AUS jumped out of the blocks – winning the one-off Test & the first T20 – ENG has stormed back
Three wins in a row โฆ the last two T20s & first ODI overnight
Two ODIs remaining โฆ win both & they regain the Ashes
๐ #WAshes
โ Glenn Mitchell (@MitchellGlenn) July 12, 2023
@katecross16 @englandcricket inspiring the next generationโฆ..looking up to your idols #crossscoop #washes pic.twitter.com/joVqJPS3dw
โ Joseph O’Neill (@Joseph_ONeill) July 12, 2023
ENGLAND WIN BY 2 WICKETS AND LEVEL THE WOMENโS ASHES ๐ฅ
Think @AlexHartley93 is a bit happy with that one ๐ #WAshes #Ashes #ENGvsAUS pic.twitter.com/SphBwl0snv
โ Georgie Heath ๐๏ธ (@GeorgieHeath27) July 12, 2023
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