Stats: Australia retain Women’s Ashes title by virtue of a Ellyse Perry special

Australia retained the Women’s Ashes title following the drawn Test match in Taunton as England Women can’t finish with more than Southern Stars’ six points even if they win the T20I series by a 3-0 margin. Ellyse Perry continued her impressive form by scoring 116 and 76* in the respective innings in this Test match.

Contributions from other batters helped the visitors to finish on 420/8 in the first essay. England Women were reduced to 275/9 by debutant Sophie Molineux’s 4-fer. The hosts tried to force a result by declaring the innings after avoiding the follow-on but Australia batted out 64 overs for 230/7 on the final day.

All the major stats and numbers recorded during the drawn Women’s Ashes Test in Taunton:

A record streak for Perry:

3 – Ellyse Perry scored 75+ runs in each of her last three Test innings. She scored an unbeaten 213 in the 2017 Ashes Test and had scores of 116 and 76* in this game. Thus, Perry became the first Woman with three consecutive 75+ scores in Test cricket. Sandhya Agarwal is the only player closest to this feat as she scored 70+ runs in three consecutive innings (71, 134 and 83) during the 1984 home series against Australia.

4 – Perry became only the 4th player to score hundreds in consecutive innings in Women’s Test cricket. Betty Wilson in 1958, Enid Blackwell in 1969 and Claire Taylor in 2003 also scored centuries in consecutive Test innings in Women’s cricket.

Perry gets out after four years:

1 – Ellyse Perry got out in a Test match after nearly four years as she scored an unbeaten double century in 2017 also against England. Between her two dismissals in Test cricket, Perry scored 329 runs which makes her the first Woman to amass more than 300 runs in this period.

Emily Drumm’s 285 runs across three innings between 1995 and 1996 were the previous most runs by a Woman between two Test dismissals.

654 – Between those two dismissals, Perry faced 654 balls; the most by a Woman cricketer between her two dismissals in Test cricket where the balls faced are known. Janette Brittin faced 577 deliveries between two dismissals during the home Test series against Australia in 1998.

A rare double with the bat:

4 – Ellyse Perry is also only the 4th player with two scores of 75+ in a Women’s Test match. Sandhya Agarwal in the 1984 Mumbai Test scored 134 and 83 respectively against Australia and is the only Woman with two 80+ scores in a Test.

England’s Enid Blackwell (75 & 77) in the 1976 Birmingham Test against Australia and Belinda Clark (76 & 93*) of Australia in the 1995 Christchurch Test against New Zealand also had twin 75+ scores in a Women’s Test.

Perry scored a total of 192 runs across two innings in this game. She would have been the first Woman to aggregate 200+ runs in consecutive Tests had she scored those 8 more runs. In fact, only Sandhya Agarwal of India has 200+ runs in a Women’s Test match on two different instances.

A new record for Australia:

650 – Australia aggregated 650 runs across both innings in this Test match; the highest aggregate for any team in a Women’s Test match. New Zealand Women scored 635 against Australia Women in the 1975 Wellington Test.

Half-centuries galore:

5 – As many as five players scored fifty-plus runs for Australia in the first innings of the game. This is only the 2nd instance of five or more players scoring 50+ runs in a Women’s Test innings. India recorded the first such instance during the 2002 Paarl Test against South Africa.

Australia had six fifty-plus scores in this Test including Perry’s unbeaten 76 in the 2nd innings. This was only the 4th time a team had six individual fifty-plus scores with Australia alone recording three such instances. Eight fifty-plus scores by seven different players across both the teams in this game are also the 2nd most in a Women’s Test match.

Molineux starts off well:

4 – Sophie Molineux became only the 4th Woman to bag a 4-wicket haul and also scored fifty-plus runs on Test debut. Myrtle Maclagan in 1934, Betty Wilson in 1948 and Chamani Seneviratna in 1998 have achieved this double on Test debut.

A quick-fire knock:

61 – Alyssa Healy’s 61-ball fifty in the opening session of the game is the joint 2nd fastest known half-century in Women’s cricket. Maia Lewis in the 1996 Worcester Test scored a 57-ball fifty against New Zealand while Charlotte scored a 61-ball fifty during the 2014 WACA Test.

The game of partnerships:

7 – Number of fifty-plus stands for Australia in this game – four in 1st innings and three in the 2nd essay; the most number of 50+ partnerships for any team in a Women’s Test match. New Zealand Women had six fifty-plus stands in the 1972 Cape Town Test against South Africa and also in the 1975 Wellington Test against Australia.

9 – As many as nine fifty-plus partnerships have been recorded by both the teams in this Test; the joint-most in a Women’s Test match. Five other Women’s Tests also had nine stands of fifty-plus runs with the last of them being during the 1998 Women’s Ashes Test in Harrogate.

Back to back 400+ totals:

2 – Australia became only the 2nd side to post 400+ runs in consecutive Test innings in Women’s cricket while England became the 2nd side to concede 400+ twice in two innings in this format. England Women scored 495 and 455 in back to back Tests during the 2003 home series against South Africa Women.