England retain the Ashes (the women, that is)
England’s women cricketers manage a feat that eluded their male counterparts – beating the Australians away from home in the Ashes.
The women’s team retained the Ashes with a nine-wicket win over Australia in the first Twenty20 (T20) international at Hobart.
Captain Charlotte Edwards hit an England best of 92 not out from 59 balls,combining in a match-winning, unbroken 114-run stand with Sarah Taylor.
Victory in the multi-format competition sparked joyous celebrations, Edwards raising her arms above her head as her team-mates rushed on to the Blundstone Arena to congratulate her.
England won the series with two T20s to spare, after taking an unassailable 10-4 points lead, and will lift the trophy for the second time in six months.
It was a very different story for England’s men, whose hopes of retaining the Ashes in Australia ended with a miserable five-nil drubbing at the hands of a team who were decidedly second best in England in the summer.
Their latest match down under also ended in defeat, with England losing their first T20 by 13 runs in Hobart.
Nerves
After losing their previous two matches, in the 50-over format, England’s women could have been fearful as they looked to finally pin down the win to clinch the series.
There were nerves as Danni Wyatt was caught by a diving Alex Blackwell with the score on 37, but it was the last wicket the tourists lost, as Edwards and Taylor took charge.
The skipper managed 13 fours and a six to beat the previous highest score by an England woman in T20 cricket – the unbeaten 80 Lydia Greenway hit to secure the Ashes at the Rose Bowl in August.
Edwards told Sky Sports 2: “This means everything to us. To win in England was really special, but to come out here and win the Ashes in Australia in the multi-format is something really special.
Treasured moments
“I love playing cricket for England and I love leading this team, and this is probably one of my most treasured moments to date.”
With several injuries in the squad, including Heather Knight and Anya Shrubsole, Edwards said she had had “a few sleepless nights”, but praised the performances of the younger bowlers, who “have stood up brilliantly on a really good wicket out there”.
Edwards, who has now won five Ashes series’ with England, added: “(This one is) the best by far because the multi-format really tests us in every discipline and to win the test match in Perth was fantastic – and the way we’ve played throughout this whole series, we’ve got a lot to be proud of.”