England vs Australia LIVE: Cricket scorecard and Women’s Ashes updates from day five at Trent Bridge
Australia bowled England out for 178 to win the Women’s Ashes Test by 89 runs
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Your support makes all the difference.England have been left with a mountain to climb to regain the Women’s Ashes after Australia seized the upper hand in the multi-format series by triumphing in the lone Test.
Resuming on 116 for five in pursuit of 268 on a final day where Trent Bridge threw open its gates free of charge, England subsided to 178 all out inside 90 minutes despite a defiant 54 from Danni Wyatt.
Wily off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner’s eight for 66 saw her walk away with a 12-wicket match haul as Australia claimed an 89-run victory to collect four all-important points ahead of the ODIs and T20s.
If England are to retrieve the urn for the first time since 2015 they will have to prevail in five of the six white-ball contests against the ODI and T20 world champions, with two points per win on offer.
Follow all the action from the Women’s Ashes, below:
England 123-5 (29), Wyatt 21, Cross 7, Gardner 3-36 (10) - target 268
Spin! Gardner gets one to nip away from Wyatt which bewilders Alyssa Healy behind the stumps too. She misses it and the ball flies to the boundary for four byes!
Wyatt then punches one away for a single and Kate Cross edges one to third man for two.
Seven runs from the over. It’s a good start for England. 145 more needed.
Start of play: England 116-5 (28.2), Wyatt 20, Cross 5, Gardner 3-33 (9.2) - target 268
It’s no surprise that Ashleigh Gardner is opening the bowling for Australia. She was the main threat yesterday and a couple of wickets for her this morning will break England’s resistance.
Gardner starts with a couple of dot balls to Danni Wyatt.
England vs Australia
After a tumultuous fourth day, this test match is on a knife edge. Which way will it go?
The state of play
The Women’s Ashes Test Match hangs in the balance ahead of the fifth and final day’s play. Who will go on to win?
‘Batting is hard’ says Gardner
Australia’s Ash Gardner says that batting has become difficult as this test match has gone on which helped explain how the visitors were bowled out for 257 in their second innings.
“We probably didn’t bat to our full potential in our second innings but you have seen in this final innings how hard it is to bat,” she told Sky Sports yesterday,
“Some are spinning and some are rolling.”
England fell to 116-5 and still require 152 runs to win.
‘We believe’ says Ecclestone
Sophie Ecclestone is confident that England can still chase down the 152 required runs on the final day despite already losing five wickets.
“We’ll always believe in that dressing room,” Ecclestone said after the close of play on Sunday. “We’re definitely going into tomorrow ready to win that Test match.
“We’re going to go away tonight and figure out how we’re going to win the Test. The England team are all smiling and we’re buzzing for tomorrow. The five wickets are a blow but that’s Test cricket for you.”
England are ‘ready to win’ despite setback against Australia in Women’s Ashes
Sophie Ecclestone fervently believes England can still win the lone Women’s Ashes Test, insisting she would have “bitten your hand off” for the difficult position they find themselves in.
England took to the field on the penultimate day at Trent Bridge with a telling-off from head coach Jon Lewis still ringing in their ears after Australia had racked up 82 in 19 overs late on Saturday.
But Ecclestone showed why she is widely regarded as the world’s best women’s spinner with another five-wicket haul to finish with 10 for the match as Australia collapsed from 149 for one to 257 all out.
England are ‘ready to win’ despite setback against Australia in Women’s Ashes
Their fightback with the ball has convinced Ecclestone the one-off match remains in the balance
Sophie Ecclestone’s 10-wicket haul
England left-arm spinner, Sophie Ecclestone, also made history this week by claiming her first 10-wicket haul in test match cricket. Here’s a look at all of her dismissal’s at Trent Bridge:
Tammy Beaumont focused on helping the team after ‘dream’ hundred
Despite admitting she has ticked an item from her bucket list in compiling an Ashes Test ton, Tammy Beaumont said she will rank its significance at the end of the match which marks the start of the multi-format series.
“There were probably moments where I thought I wasn’t going to face enough balls to get there but it put the team in a good position,” she said.
“If we go on to win this Test match then it would be right up there. It’s great to tick it off and as a kid, I dreamt of scoring an Ashes Test hundred. But as I’ve gone on, it’s contributing to the team.
“If you apply yourself as a batter there’s definitely runs out there to be had and so far our batters have pretty much looked at ease.
“I guess I got lucky with one but then again I’ve probably had a couple of unlucky decisions in the last month or so in regional cricket - luck came at the right time.”
Tickets are free for day five
Trent Bridge have made tickets for the final day of this Test Match available free of charge with all four results still possible.
To gain entry to the ground you must have a ticket which can be claimed online at trentbridge.co.uk.
Anyone who already has a ticket for day five will get a full refund in the coming day.
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