AUSW vs ENGW, 2nd T20I, Review: England romp past the Aussies courtesy Natalie Sciver

Haynes' valiant half-century with the bat went in vain.

Published - 23 Mar 2018, 13:34 IST | Updated - 23 Mar 2018, 13:34 IST

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The stunning all-round show from Natalie Sciver helped England Women beat the strong Australian side by eight wickets in the second match of the ongoing tri-series at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. She scalped a couple of wickets with the ball before smashing an unbeaten 68 in the chase for her team. Australia missed their skipper Meg Lanning in the line-up who was rested citing the workload on her. However, all the credit goes to England for the way they played in their first outing of the tour.

England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and opted to field first on a sunny morning in Mumbai. The opening duo of Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney failed to provide the side with a good start as the latter was run-out by a direct hit from Katie George. Though her partner batted gamely and scored at pace. But her stay at the crease was cut short by Sciver at 31 who also scalped the key wicket of Ashleigh Gardener in the same over.

Skipper leading from the front

Rachel Haynes, however, took all the onus on her after that and played a timely knock for Australia. She smashed 65 off 45 deliveries with 8 fours and a solitary maximum even as the other batters around her failed to deliver. The likes of Ellyse Perry and Elyse Villani couldn’t provide a support to their skipper as they failed to accelerate in the end. Eventually, Australia posted 149 runs for the loss of 8 wickets Jenny Gunn proving to be the best bowler for England with the figures of 3/26.

Clinical chase

England Women too didn’t get off to a great start as their openers Daniel Wyatt and the debutant Bryony Smith were sent back into the hut with the score reading 34 in the fifth over. Though the duo of Tammy Beaumont and Natalie Sciver got together only to win the game for their side. It was some brilliant clean hitting from both of them as they brought up their respective half-centuries. The latter was particularly brutal in her assault as she remained unbeaten on 68 off 43 balls with 10 fours and a couple of gigantic shots over the ropes.

Beaumont was not behind either as she played a perfect second fiddle to her partner only to accelerate when the end was nigh. She scored 58* off 44 deliveries with eight hits to the fence along the ground. England gunned down the target only in 17 overs and earned a couple of crucial points. Aussies tried hard to defend the middling total but the pitch was too good to bat and 149 was never going to be enough.

Natali Sciver was awarded the Player of the Match for her all-round show on the day. England will now face the hosts India on Sunday who lost their opening encounter to Australia and would be eager to get on board in the series as well.