Match Report

 Australia v England @  SCG

England Women's captain Charlotte Edwards led her side to a seven-wicket victory over Australia at the SCG as she played her 100th ODI.

Charlotte Edwards on her way to 199* in a Super 4s match

Edwards made an unbeaten 70 as England chased down 177 in 46 overs, a modest total set by Australia from the first innings.

After the early loss of Sarah Taylor for 20 and then Beth Morgan (10), both trapped lbw by Ellyse Perry, England found themselves 37-2. Edwards and Claire Taylor steadied the ship and guided England towards their second victory of the series putting on 131 for the third wicket. Taylor made 56 before being run out in the 45th over. Left-hander Lydia Greenway came to the crease to support Edwards in the final stages of the match and finished on seven not out.

Earlier in the day Karen Rolton had elected to bat after winning the toss, but England took an early wicket to dismiss opener Alex Blackwell for 5 as Sarah Taylor took a catch off Nicky Shaw's bowling.

With Australia 8-1 Rolton arrived at the crease and played a fantastic innings smashing ten fours and making a quick-fire 65 from 71 balls. She was well-supported by Shelley Nitschke and together they put on 104 to take Australia past the hundred mark. At 112-2, Rolton fell to a stumping by Taylor off Holly Colvin's bowling to bring Lisa Sthalekar to the crease.

She made two but fell to a catch by Sarah Taylor from Colvin's bowling in the 28th over. Nitschke was scoring steadily and hit her fifty from 75 balls, but shortly after she was joined at the crease by Kris Britt she was trapped lbw by Shaw for 54, leaving Australia 136-4.

Kate Blackwell came in at five for the hosts, but her and Britt only added three to the total before Britt was dismissed by a fantastic diving catch at mid-on from Rosalie Birch off Shaw's bowling.

Elysse Perry was next in for the Southern Stars and made two, but was caught three overs later by Colvin off Laura Marsh's bowling leaving Australia 146-6 and Sarah Edwards heading to the crease.

Kate Blackwell was next to go after a run out from Edwards at square leg to Rosalie Birch's bowling for 12. Australia were 158-7 after some fantastic bowling and fielding from England who had worked really hard to get themselves back into the game and into a strong position.
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Leonie Coleman was trapped lbw by Marsh for 4 which brought Kirsten Pike to the crease. She made two before being run out by Greenway, fielding at mid-wicket to Birch's bowling.

It was up to Sarah Edwards and Emma Sampson to see Australia through to the end of their innings, but Edwards fell on the second ball of the final over to a catch by Greenway off Marsh's bowling leaving Australia 177 all out.

Marsh was the pick of England's bowlers taking three wickets for just 18 runs off 9.2 overs. Shaw took three wickets from her ten overs for 37 runs and eighteen-year-old Holly Colvin took two to help England to a commanding position.

A delighted Charlotte Edwards said after the game:

"Our comeback in the field from 112-2 to 177 all out was a turning point for me. It showed our determination and put us in the driving seat going into our innings.

"It's key on these wickets that you have to build partnerships and myself and Tails (Claire Taylor) did just that.

"Personally it's been a fairytale game for me. To score 70 not out and hit the winning runs to beat Australia in Australia on my 100th ODI is fantastic! It's my best game of cricket and I've waited 100 one-day internationals for it and it's definitely worth it!"

Claire Taylor added: "Batting today on a pitch that was two-paced was hard work, but to have that partnership with Lottie was great. We were determined to put the team into a winning position by being patient. On pitches like that, it's not about pretty cricket!

"It was good to get a few runs under my belt and I'm really looking forward to coming back out here tomorrow for the final ODI of the series."