Match
Report
England
v
Australia
5th ODI
Chemplast
Ground
England
women smashed 268 today in their fifth ODI of the ICC Quadrangular series in
Chennai against
Australia
, but
it still wasn’t enough to beat the team currently ranked top in the
women’s game, as
England
’s
opponents cruised to victory in the 46th over.
Australia
won
the toss and put
England
into
bat on one of the hottest days so far.
England
’s
batsmen were keen to reverse recent fortunes and came out aggressively,
looking to dominate the Australian bowlers
from
the
first ball.
Sarah Taylor
opened alongside
Laura Newton
and
started well.
Newton
was
bowled by Kirsten Pike for 13 in the tenth over and
Taylor
was
joined at the crease by
Berkshire
’s
Claire Taylor.
Together they amassed 119 runs before Claire was caught by Kate Blackwell
off the bowling of Cathryn Fitzpatrick for 54, leaving
England
looking strong on 157-2 with the potential to post a score of at least 300.
Sarah went on to make her maiden international century of 101 off 111 balls in
38.1 overs in a display of excellent strokeplay and
England
were
left 201-4.
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|
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Sarah Taylor in action against India in 2006 |
England
’s
assault was hampered after
Taylor
’s
dismissal and the remaining batsmen put on just 66 runs to take their total to
267-8 off fifty overs.
After the break
England
’s
seamers once again struggled to contain the opposition as
Australia
kept
up with the required run rate of 5.5 an over and paced their innings to
perfection hitting the winning runs with four overs to spare. Opener Melissa
Bulow hit 52 before being bowled by Isa Guha, while Lisa Sthalekar was again
the mainstay for
Australia
scoring an impressive 77 and earning her the Player of the Match Award in the
process. She was ably supported by Blackwell who scored 40 off 36 balls.
Cathryn Fitzpatrick came in after Sthalekar’s dismissal to hit the winning
runs, scoring 35 off 16 balls.
Despite their valiant effort with the bat, England are still looking for
that elusive win and now go into their remaining two games playing for pride.
