Australia registered a thumping victory against England in the first Ashes T20 International at the County Ground in Chelmsford on Friday.
The match saw plenty of firsts – Australia got their highest T20I total of 226/3 in 20 overs, their skipper Meg Lanning scored an unbeaten 133 of just 63 balls — which is the highest T20I score in women’s cricket, the visitors earned a 93-run victory which is their biggest in terms of margin of runs in T20Is, and England suffered their heaviest defeat in the format.
Australia came into the match having retained the Ashes with an 8-2 margin thanks to their victory in the One-Day International series earlier and the one-off Test match after that. England could’ve drawn the overall series 8-8 had they won all three T20Is but now trail 2-10 after Friday’s lopsided result.
England captain Amy Ellen Jones won the toss and elected to field first and her decision seemed to be vindicated as Australia lost opener Alyssa Healy [4] in the first over. But little did the hosts know at that time that they weren’t going to be on top for the rest of the game from there on.
Lanning got together with Beth Mooney [54 off 33] to add 134 runs for the second wicket in just 70 balls. Once Australia’s second opener departed in the 13th over, Ashleigh Gardener [27 off 14] and the in-form Ellyse Perry [7 not out off 5] provided cameos as Lanning remained unbeaten.
The 27-year-odd right-hander struck a massive 17 fours and seven sixes in her sensational innings which was lauded by everyone at the ground.
In reply, England struggled to stitch together a big partnership and finished with 133/9 in 20 overs. Perry took two wickets at the top and her new-ball partner Megan Schutt returned with figures of 3/25 from her four overs to guide the Aussies to a comfortable victory.
The two teams will now face each other in the second T20I at the County Ground in Hove on Sunday.
Brief scores
Australia 226/3 in 20 overs [Meg Lanning 133*, Beth Mooney 54; Sophie Ecclestone 2-42] beat England 133/9 in 20 overs [Lauren Winfield 33; Megan Schutt 3-25, Ellyse Perry 2-11] by 93 runs.
Watch the match highlights here: