Key events
2nd over: Australia 21-0 (Mooney 6, Voll 9) Lauren Bell at the other end. Drifts on the leg side and Mooney flicks her away to the rope, one-legged flamingo style. They run a handful of quick singles and pick up another when Dunkley lets the ball through her legs at cover. And then an overthrow.
1st over: Australia 11-0 (Mooney 1, Voll 6) And Kemp starts with a slightly insipid wide. Exciting young starlet, 21-year-old Georgia Voll, is playing in her first international T20 after making her debut against India in three ODI games earlier this winter. She’s beaten once, but also hooplas Kemp up and over Nat Sciver Brunt at mid-on for four.
Here they come! Sophia Dunkley looking happy on her first outing this series as she takes up her fielding position. England are opening with Freya Kemp who is also in her first Ashes game of the Australian summer.
This was a thoughtful piece from Raf earlier this week – Jon-ball isn’t working.
England XI
England: Maia Bouchier, Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (c), Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Bell.
Australia XI
Australia: Georgia Voll, Beth Mooney (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Tahlia McGrath (c), Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt
Ash Gardner calf strain
Tahlia McGrath is the stand-in for Healy and very chirpy she is too, despite also losing Ash Gardner with a calf strain. Healy and Gardner are replaced by Georgia Voll and Grace Harris.
England win the toss and will bowl!
Knight looks briskly confident. “A change of format suits us really nicely,” she says, “into a format that we love playing and are really good at.” Then she turns on her heel and marches off. There are three changes for England as Sarah Glenn, Freya Kemp and Sophia Dunkley come in.
Alyssa Healy injury
Healy will not play today, with soreness in the same foot as her plantar fascia injury. She’s currently wearing a boot and will be seen by specialists over the next couple of days.
Hello! Already the ODIs are over, already England are six points down. Over there on the river are the Ashes, sailing away, with a good wind behind them, almost out of reach. We are a week into England’s tour of Australia and they’ve been thoroughly outclassed – tactically, with the bat and in the field. Australia have been….Australia.
But! Hope (just about) survives as we march into the T20 part of the series. England are pretty good at the shortest form and the last time Australia played one, they lost to South Africa in the World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
Can England re-find their mojo? Will new blood make any difference? Will Australia retain the Ashes today? Play starts at 8.15GMT, there is plenty of space here on the sofa.
Leave a Reply