Alice Capsey found her form with a fine 46 as England kept alive their hopes of regaining the Ashes with a five-wicket victory over Australia in a rain-hit final T20 international at Lord’s.
England had responded from defeat in the Test at Trent Bridge and losing the opening T20 at Edgbaston to pull off a three-run win in a thrilling finale at the Oval on Wednesday.
Heather Knight’s side continued that momentum to restrict Australia to 155 for seven and then Capsey led the chase of a Duckworth–Lewis–Stern revised target of 119 in 14 overs to win the T20 series and reduce the multi-format deficit to 6-4 ahead of the deciding one-day internationals.
Australia, put into bat after Knight had won the toss for the first time in this Ashes, made a swift start in front a crowd of 21,610, another record attendance.
Captain Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney hit 10 off the first over from Charlie Dean and Healy was then dropped when on 13 off Nat Sciver-Brunt, the all-rounder unable to take a caught-and-bowled chance down to her left.
Dean made the breakthrough with the first delivery of the fourth over to trap Healy lbw for 16 with a length ball.
England took another wicket in the seventh over when Tahlia McGrath (10) sent a short ball from Danielle Gibson to Capsey at mid-off, leaving Australia at 37 for two.
Mooney sent Sarah Glenn for three consecutive boundaries in the eighth over, but was then bowled by Sciver-Brunt for 32 when attempting a ramp shot.
Ash Gardner hit Gibson for the first six of the match in the 11th over before Sciver-Brunt failed to hold a testing diving catch chance.
Sciver-Brunt then had Gardner (32) caught behind off a top edge from a short ball.
Australia pushed on past 100 before rain took the players off during the 15th over, but it proved only to be a short delay.
Ellyse Perry again set about the England bowlers, racing to 27 off 21 deliveries. Lauren Bell eventually had her lbw for 34 in front of middle, which was not able to be reviewed because of a technical problem with the DRS.
Grace Harris was dropped by Bell in the last over before Gibson put down Annabel Sutherland, with Ecclestone eventually getting her wicket when taking out leg-stump.
Harris (25) was run out going for a second run off the final delivery, as Australia finished 155 for seven.
During the interval, the covers came out as rain again set in which delayed the restart until just after 9pm. As a result, England’s run chase was revised to 119 from 14 overs, with four of those comprising the powerplay.
Danni Wyatt – who hit 76 at the Oval – and Sophia Dunkley put on 17 in the opening two overs.
England’s momentum was halted at the end of the fourth over when, after a run of boundaries, Wyatt edged Megan Schutt behind to depart for 26 off 15 balls.
Australia struck again with the next delivery when Dunkley (nine) sent Darcie Brown’s opening delivery straight up and was caught by Jess Jonassen at backward point to leave England reeling at 39 for two.
Capsey, who had made just 17 runs in her last five England innings, sent Jonassen over deep midwicket for a huge six as England passed the half-century mark.
Sciver-Brunt hit Sutherland for another boundary, before Capsey had a let-off when Georgia Wareham failed to hold a diving catch in an expensive ninth over from Gardner.
Capsey’s onslaught continued as she smashed Schutt for a huge six and then a four – but was then out to a fine catch from Gardner from a shot over deep square leg to fall just short of her half-century.
Just when England looked to be cruising to victory, Sciver-Brunt was bowled by a flatter delivery from Wareham for a run-a-ball 25.
England were left needing two off the final over from Jonassen – who promptly trapped Knight (six) lbw with the first delivery.
Gibson, in just her third game for England, showed nerves of steel to reverse sweep Jonassen for a boundary and secure another dramatic victory.
Barbados to welcome Oman early for preparation camp ahead of T20 World Cup
As the much-anticipated ICC Men’s T20 World Cup draws closer, Barbados will welcome West Asian team Oman to the island for their pre-tournament camp ahead of the global showpiece to be hosted jointly in the Caribbean and United States.
While in Barbados, Oman’s camp, scheduled for May 14-24, will also include three T20 matches – two against a Barbados Select XI, and one match against University of the West Indies –as they fine tune preparations for the June 1-29 World Cup.
The camp is being organised by former England batsman and West Indies Senior Men’s Selector Roland Butcher, who saw it fit to assist Oman in getting acclimatised to the Eastern Caribbean Island, which will host a number of games throughout the tournament, including the final.
“It is great that the Oman team will be coming out to Barbados early for their pre-tournament camp. They will use the period to get acclimatised to the conditions, as quick as possible. We are delighted to have them in Barbados – this country is the ideal place to start their preparations,” Butcher said.
“We believe the time spent here will be hugely beneficial towards them putting on a good showing in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024,” he added.
Duleep Mendis, the former Sri Lanka captain and Oman’s Head Coach expressed his team’s delight and anticipation ahead of their arrival in Barbados.
“It is one of the cricket locations which we all dream of visiting and we want to make the most of our time as we prepare. We have high ambitions in this tournament, and we want to focus on our plans from the moment we touch down in a country which is known for its cricket culture and heroes,” Mendis shared.
Oman recently named their World Cup squad, which will be led by all-rounder Aqib Ilyas, who takes the reins from Zeeshan Maqsood. This year’s World Cup will mark Oman’s third appearance in the last four editions of the tournament, which underlines their success and consistency in performing at the global level.
Oman enjoyed a dazzling 2023 campaign, as they copped the Gulf Cricket Cup, followed by an unbeaten run in the ICC T20 World Cup Asia qualifiers, which secured their spot in the upcoming tournament. They were also runners-up in this year’s ACC Premier Cup.
The West Asian team, drawn in Group B alongside Australia, England, Scotland, and Namibia, will open their T20 World Cup campaign against the latter, in Barbados, on June 2.
IPL: Royals downed by big-hitting Capitals
Rajasthan Royals failed to chase down the Delhi Capitals, who claimed a 20-run victory in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
Sanju Samson struck 86 off 46 balls for the second-placed Royals, but the Capitals successfully defended their haul of 221.
Jake Fraser-McGurk's 20-ball 50 set the tone for the Capitals, who are well in the play-off hunt with two matches remaining.
Fellow opener Abishek Porel plundered 65, with Tristan Stubbs adding a useful 41 towards the end of the innings, with Ravichandran Ashwin (3-24) the only Royals bowler to do significant damage.
Kuldeep Yadav (2-25) and Mukesh Kumar (2-30) led the way with the ball for Delhi, with the latter taking the vital wicket of Samson in the 16th over, leaving the Royals with too much to do from 162-4.
Delhi have won three of their last four matches and are making a late run for the play-offs, as one of four teams tied on 12 points.
Data Debrief: Samson soars
It took Samson just 31 minutes to amass 86 runs before he was eventually dismissed, with the loss of his wicket all but ending the Royals' hopes.
In the process, he moved into third place in the IPL run-scorers chart, up from 11th, with 471 runs to his name this season. He trails only Ruturaj Gaikwad (541) and Virat Kohli (542).
Seales takes 5-29 in second innings to help Sussex complete innings and 124-run rout of Derbyshire
Jayden Seales is now the leading wicket-taker after five rounds of the County Championship Division Two after another stellar performance to help Sussex rout Derbyshire by an innings and 124 runs at the County Ground in Derby from May 3-5.
Seales took 1-54 from 14 overs in the first innings as Derbyshire were bowled out for 246 in 63.3 overs after Sussex won the toss.
Luis Reece (50), Blair Tickner (47) and Aneurin Donald (44) were the top run-scorers against 2-6 from James Coles and 2-65, each, from Ollie Robinson and Fynn Hudson-Prentice.
Cheteshwar Pujara then starred with the bat with 113 off 186 balls as Sussex piled up 479 off 109.4 overs in their first innings.
James Coles (72), Tom Alsop (64) and Tom Haines (58) provided good support for Pujara against three-wicket hauls from Daryn Dupavillon and Jack Morley.
Seales then produced an excellent spell of bowling to help restrict Derbyshire to just 109 all out in 26 overs.
He took 5-29 from his eight overs, taking his tally this season to 18 in four games. Danny Lamb also bowled well with 2-10 from four overs.
Full Scores: Derbyshire 246 off 63.3 overs (Luis Reece 50, Blair Tickner 47, Aneurin Donald 44, James Coles 2-6, Ollie Robinson 2-65, Fynn Hudson-Prentice 2-65) & 109 off 26 overs (Jayden Seales 5-29, Danny Lamb 2-10)
Sussex 479 off 109.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 113, James Coles 72, Tom Alsop 64, Tom Haines 58, Daryn Dupavillon 3-89, Jack Morley 3-117, Luis Reece 2-32)
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
