They say the mark of a championship team is winning on a bad day. Or they possible Say so. We're not sure who “they” are, maybe the ones who invented copies of the books with fake Vince Lombardi quotes. But it does sound like a vaguely true phrase with an empty ring of wisdom attached to it.
Australia's women's team proved that imagined argument in their second Women's Ashes one-day international, winning a game they had absolutely no right to win. Confidence under pressure and England's utter lack of success in the same situation meant Australia defended their target of 181 for 11 balls and 21 runs after a poor home batting performance gave the visitors a chance to win in what was a multi-match series. The tiebreakers in the format series are two points each.
In the modern game, against a high-calibre opponent of 180, a team should expect to be knocked out, but Australia bowed out of the game in the second innings like an attacking team. Kim Garth struck early with the new ball, returning the two opening balls at stumps with a bit of seam movement and accuracy.
Then it's time to spin to end the inning. Alana King's four wickets, one in the first over and two in the final over, completed a hat-trick at that stage as England trailed by eight runs. But her work during this period was equally important, as she conceded 25 runs in 10 overs, matching up perfectly with 1 for 23 as opposed to Ash Gardner's finger-spin of 10 overs.
England's most dynamic scorers were squeezed: Heather Knight 18 off 35 balls, Nat Sciver-Brunt 35 off 57 balls balls, later Alice Capsey made 14 off 35 balls. England faced a total of 206 penalties. Or including wickets and no-balls if you prefer, the team scored runs off 92 deliveries in the innings.
But it’s not just about bowling well, it’s about what results from bowling well. After the big names in the middle order departed, King's leg-breaker set up Danny Wyatt-Hodge to bowl the first ball, and the incompetence of the final innings added an extra layer to the disparity between the two teams. Highlights. While England fell apart, Australia continued to swarm.
You can look at Charlie Dean's attempted tackle, a shot that requires pace but is used against slow leg-spin with the day's most threatening bowler still having five deliveries to go. The ball traveled about five meters before being caught, allowing Sophie Ecclestone to hit the next ball behind. You can look at the performance of Lauren Filer, breaking another tackle on a full throw that Amy Jones should have crossed into the stands and then galloping away in the 10 Denied a single.
You can look at Jones overall, she ended up with a respectable 47 points, didn't show up on the scorecard, and her captain praised her as “excellent” for “keeping us close.” But it's her casual sense of play that leads to many of the later problems, including that last one.
When the eighth wicket fell and 56 runs were needed, there was only one option: Jones needed to score himself. She had a lot of shots and 70 balls to go. But at that moment, with necessary sluggishness, she was unable to switch to the 11th ball on 27 of 71 balls, twice failing to sustain a strike late in the over and once giving it away on a first ball.
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Meanwhile, the required ratio climbed: six times, seven times, nine times, eleven times. Hit a high no-ball and was penalized for four points. Jones didn't punish the free kick, nor did he punish another full toss. The latter call was an error as Jones stepped out of her crease with the ball below waist height and was on her tiptoes as the ball came to her, but Sutherland was pulled from the play.
So with just one ball left, a free-kick bowled by Tahlia McGrath, who had not bowled all day, the time was ripe for Jones to make Australia pay. Instead, she whipped a pull ball to King at deep square leg and then stood enigmatically watching a catch that didn't count. The eighth and final ball of the over came with no run from Jones, leading to a strike from Lauren Bell, who needed 22 of the 12 runs.
They should have made this move even if Jones thought the ball was coming. Of course, Bale was struck off the next ball, completing one of the most spectacular acts of self-destruction in a losing international match. All this came after a top-notch performance from England spin, with Ecclestone taking 4 for 35 and Kapusi taking 3 for 22, and Australia's performance was much the same as King and Gardner's later performances. The 4-for-7 shooting loss was heartbreaking, with only Ellyse Perry scoring more than 30 points. .
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