The captain Rachael Haynes struck an outrageous 89 not out to inspire Australia to a big victory over England in the second ODI
Related: Australia crush England in second ODI to take command of Women's Ashes
That was a thumping win for Australia, inspired by an outrageous innings of 89 not out from 56 balls from the captain Rachael Haynes. There were also fifties for Ellyse Perry, Nicole Bolton and Alyssa Healy, and then Megan Schutt bowled superbly to take four for 22 and undermine England’s run chase.
England have three problems - batting, bowling and fielding; thanks Martin Johnson -and surely need to win here on Sunday if they are to have a realistic chance of regaining the Ashes. Thanks for your company, bye!
WICKET! England 209 all out (Ecclestone c Blackwell b Beams 3) It’s all over. Ecclestone slog sweeps Beams high in the air, and Blackwell takes the catch. Australia lead 2-0 in the ODIs and 4-0 in the Ashes!
42nd over: England 209-9 (Ecclestone 3, Hartley 0)
Nine down, one to go. Shrubsole clouts Jonassen towards long on, where Elyse Villani takes a fine running catch.
41st over: England 207-8 (Shrubsole 21, Ecclestone 1) Shrubsole hits consecutive boundaries off Beams, the second a beautiful strike over extra cover. SHe has 21 from 13 balls.
Jenny Gunn goes too far across and is bowled by Kristen Beams. Australia are two wickets away from a big victory.
39th over: England 191-7 (Gunn 7, Shrubsole 8)
38th over: England 186-7 (Gunn 6, Shrubsole 4) It’s a long way back from 4-0 down for England, especially as Australia only need to draw the series to retain the Ashes.
Game over! Megan Schutt gets her fourth wicket when Brunt walks across her stumps and misses an attempted ramp shot.
37th over: England 180-6 (Brunt 50, Gunn 6) Brunt reverse heaves Jonassen for four, and a swept single takes her to a maiden ODI fifty from 50 balls. It’d been an admirably defiant innings, though it is likely to be in vain.
36th over: England 175-6 (Brunt 45, Gunn 6) Brunt muscles Schutt just over the leaping Haynes at extra cover, and a single takes her level with her highest ODI score, that crucial unbeaten 45 against Australia at the World Cup. England need 110 from 10 overs. Arf!
35th over: England 171-6 (Brunt 42, Gunn 5) Gunn crashes Jonassen through the covers for four to get off the mark, and then Brunt sweeps six behind square. She is going down fighting, having made 42 not out from 42 balls.
34th over: England 159-6 (Brunt 35, Gunn 0) That was the last ball of the over.
Ellyse Perry may be banned from bowling but she has played her part in the field with a superb running catch. Wilson lifted Schutt high into the leg side, and Perry charged in from deep midwicket to take a beautifully judged low catch. She fields with such unobtrusive brilliance.
33rd over: England 157-5 (Wilson 36, Brunt 35) Wilson’s chipper innings continues when she nails a reverse sweep for four off Beams. England need 128 from 13 overs, the next five of which will form the batting powerplay.
32nd over: England 149-5 (Wilson 31, Brunt 32) In isolation this has been a really good partnership of 58 in 11 overs, but in context it isn’t enough. In other news, it turns out Ellyse Perry was unforunate to be taking out of the attack. The playing regulations for the women’s championship are slightly different to the laws, and suggest a bowler should only be taken out of the attack if, in the opinion of the umpire, the beamer was likely to inflict physical injury. As Perry’s second beamer was very wide, that probably wasn’t the case. Oh well, it’s not going to affect the result.
31st over: England 144-5 (Wilson 30, Brunt 28) A big LBW appeal from Beams against Brunt is turned down. It might have been missing leg.
“Hey,” says Don. “Why are youse scoring in Pommie fashion. It should be wickets then runs not runs then wickets. Geez.”
30th over: England 136-5 (Wilson 24, Brunt 26) Tahlia McGrath returns to the attack and restricts England to five singles. That’s more than good enough for Australia, who have been very impressive in this match.
29th over: England 131-5 (Wilson 21, Brunt 24) Wilson and particularly Brunt are full of attacking intent but they can’t just get after the spinners. Another economical over from Beams leaves England need 154 from 17 overs. Slim just left town.
“Oi,” says Ravi Nair. “You can have my ‘gun bowlers’ when you pry them out of my cold, dead hands.”
28th over: England 128-5 (Wilson 19, Brunt 23) Wilson survives an appeal for caught behind after making a mess of a reverse sweep off Jonassen. At first it looked like she gloved it up in the air but replays showed it hit her on the arm. The required rate has zoomed up to 8.72 per over.
27th over: England 125-5 (Wilson 15, Brunt 23) Rachael Haynes mades a like-for-like, leggie-for-leggie change, with Beams replacing Wellington. Just three from the over, which is not enough. England’s chase is petering out. It’s dying on the vine.
“Both teams’ gun bowlers are proving to be much more valuable with the bat, this match,” says Ravi Nair.
26th over: England 122-5 (Wilson 14, Brunt 22) Wilson, aiming to leg, slices Jonassen not far short of Perry at short third man. England essentially need to drive at 120mph without any risk to their own safety. Good luck with that.
25th over: England 119-5 (Wilson 12, Brunt 21) Brunt is batting forcefully, as if affronted by the match situation. She dances down to drive Wellington over mid-on for four, a really good stroke, and flogs a low full toss for four off the next ball as well.
24th over: England 111-5 (Wilson 12, Brunt 13) Just three from a good over by Jonassen. England need 184 from 22 overs.
23rd over: England 108-5 (Wilson 11, Brunt 11) It’s hard to see how England can get out of this. They have some good lower-order hitters - as Brunt reminds us with a defiant swipe over mid-on for four - but asking them to score at eight an over for almost 25 overs is probably pushing it. Rachael Haynes’ spectacular innings earlier in the day has surely won this match for Australia.
22nd over: England 101-5 (Wilson 10, Brunt 5) Replays show Heather Knight got an under-edge when she was given out LBW, which explains why she was so aggrieved. It was pretty hard to spot and, although you can understand Knight’s disappointment, her reaction was unusually petulant.
21st over: England 91-5 (Wilson 5, Brunt 0) It was definitely the decision that Knight was aggrieved about. When she was given out she looked down at the umpire as if to say “Really?” I still think it looked out, certainly in a post-DRS world.
“Greetings, Rob,” says Richard Woods. “c Healy b McGrath is just about as scary evocative as it gets, don’t you think?”
This is turning into a rout. Heather Knight tries to sweep Wellington, misses and is given out LBW. She shakes her head as she walks off the field, though I’m not sure whether that’s because of the decision or the shot. It looked pretty plumb, in truth.
20th over: England 86-4 (Knight 35, Wilson 1) Australia are surely going to go 4-0 ahead in the series. They only need eight points to regain the Ashes. This series could become one beautiful anticlimax for Australian players and fans.
Jess Jonassen is on, with instructions to continue the steady asphyxiation of England’s hopes and dreams. And she has struck with her fifth ball! Nat Sciver tried to go down the ground but dragged straight to mid-on. That’s a huge wicket, because Sciver’s power was England’s main hope of victory.
19th over: England 80-3 (Knight 34, Sciver 1) Sciver survives an LBW appeal when she bottom-edges an attempted sweep onto the pad. England have a troublingly good view from the precipice; they need 205 from 27 overs.
18th over: England 77-3 (Knight 32, Sciver 0) Nat Sciver is in at No5.
That’s a huge breakthrough! Tahlia McGrath takes her first wicket for Australia thanks to a great catch from Alyssa Healy. Taylor tried to glide the ball to third man and got a slight deflection that was beautifully held by Healy standing up to the stumps.
17th over: England 73-2 (Taylor 24, Knight 30) Knight survives a big LBW appeal when she tries to lap Wellington. The umpire got the right answer with the wrong working: the run was given as leg byes, though replays showed Knight got a bottom-edge. That’s an excellent over from Wellington, who is giving it plenty of air and getting enough turn to worry England.
16th over: England 69-2 (Taylor 23, Knight 29) Knight and Taylor are playing nicely but it feels like something will have to give pretty soon - especially as McGrath, who replaced Ellyse Perry, has been thriftily effective with her wicket-to-wicket medium-pace.
15th over: England 67-2 (Taylor 22, Knight 28) Here comes Amanda-Jade Wellington, the brilliant young legspinner. It’ll be interesting to see if England dare to go after her. They don’t have much chouce with a required rate of seven an over. Knight makes a good start, belting a low full toss behind square on the leg side for four.
14th over: England 58-2 (Taylor 21, Knight 21) “Perry’s own fault in my opinion,” says Rob Walker. “She knows the rules, she should make sure the ball is dry and her hand is dry after the first one and then it doesn’t happen.”
13th over: England 54-2 (Taylor 20, Knight 18) Sarah Taylor survives a spandex-tight runout referral. It was incredibly close; the third umpire must have looked at that 20 or 30 times. Knight tried to steal a single after a misfield at mid-on, and Wellington collected the loose ball before throwing to the striker’s end. Taylor, who was originally slow to react, just got her bat down in time.
12th over: England 50-2 (Taylor 18, Knight 17) Knight clips McGrath classily through midwicket for a couple. They might have got three there as the ball was only just stopped on the boundary edge by the sliding Bolton.
“Hi Rob,” says Vinny Raghavan. “The umpires don’t have any discretion with beamer laws. If they deem it deliberate they have to suspend the bowler immediately. If not deliberate then they have to suspend after the second occurrence.”
11th over: England 46-2 (Taylor 17, Knight 13) The legspinner Kristen Beams comes into the attack. Her first over is a good one, with no trouble gripping the ball, and Taylor is lucky to survive when she misses a ramp stroke and the ball zips just past the off stump. She might have been out stumping, too, with the ball ricocheting off Healy onto the stumps. Taylor had her back foot in the air for a split-second but it was grounded by the time the bails were broken.
10th over: England 42-2 (Taylor 16, Knight 10) After her dramatic introduction, McGrath has started to settle into her work. Just three runs from a good over. The required rate has already risen to 6.75 per over.
9th over: England 39-2 (Taylor 15, Knight 8) Schutt has bowled a high-class new-ball spell, mixing big inswingers with skiddy tempters outside off stump.
“It is my contention that Sarah Taylor’s cheeky grin, along with Ian Bell’s cover drive (or Taylor’s too, for that matter), needs to be declared by the UN to be a Monument of Outstanding Cultural Significance, and preserved forever,” says Ravi Nair. “It makes you feel about 10 degrees happier just to see it.”
8th over: England 36-2 (Taylor 13, Knight 7) Knight drags McGrath assertively through midwicket for four. That Ellyse Perry controversy seems to have given England a bit of impetus, though they still have a huge job on: they need 249 from 38 overs.
7th over: England 31-2 (Taylor 13, Knight 2) Rachael Haynes is not happy with that decision and you can understand why. The ball is pretty wet and that’s why the two full tosses slipped out. I have precisely no idea how much flexibility the law allows the umpire in this situation.
“Evening Rob,” says Phil Withall. “I’m a simple soul and try not to avoid things that cause me unnecessary confusion. Would you be so kind as to explain why England’s target was reduced by three runs an over when the required rate was so much more? I get the concept that the scoring rate tends to increase as the innings progresses but I prefer my more simplistic methods. (This may be redundant now but took me ages to type due to a badly cut thumb and predictive correction delaying the process).”
6th over: England 30-2 (Taylor 13, Knight 1) Ellyse Perry has been taken out of the attack by the umpire Claire Polosak. She bowled consecutive beamers to Knight, a consequence of the wet ball, but the umpire Claire Polosak applied the law rigidly and Perry cannot bowl again in the innings. That feels pretty harsh. Tahlia McGrath completes the over, with Taylor swiping a free hit to long on for four. Australia have a problem now, especially as they have two leg-spinners and a wet ball.
5th over: England 20-2 (Taylor 6, Knight 0) The new
batter batsman person is the captain Heather Knight.
Another one for Megan Schutt! That was pretty similar to Lauren Winfield’s dismissal, a big inswinger that pinned Tammy Beaumont in front as she tried to work it across the line. England are in the malodorous stuff and no mistake.
4th over: England 18-1 (Beaumont 8, Taylor 5) Beaumont gets the first boundary of the innings, cuffing an excellent pull stroke off the last ball of the over. That tarnished what had been a fine over from Perry.
3rd over: England 10-1 (Beaumont 1, Taylor 5) Megan Schutt bowls the last two deliveries of the over she started before the rain. Nothing happens. Nothing.
Play is about to resume. England have a revised target of 285 from 46 overs.
“Batter?” sniffs Huw Swanborough. “Batsman is the term I believe. Batter is reserved for fish and Americans.”
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Since the start of 2014 Ellyse Perry has scored 1834 ODI runs at an average of 83.36 runs per dismissal. #WomensAshes
This should only be a short delay. Geoff Lemon, who is at the ground, says it has almost cleared. The umpires are out in the middle and the groundstaff are poised for action.
“The lightning in the background makes it look as though Thor is going to land in the middle of the pitch any second now,” says Ravi Nair. “(If so, of course, he should be red carded because the man has no respect for lawns.) More importantly in these ‘epic’ conditions, any chance of Beaumont and Taylor repeating this? No hope otherwise, I think.”
When the only hope is a tenuous precedent, you know you’re in trouble. I agree though; England’s best hope is the weather, because if Australia go 4-0 ahead they will take some catching.
2.4 overs: England 10-1 (Beaumont 1, Taylor 5) Taylor drives Schutt nicely through extra cover for three before Beaumont gets off the mark with a single from her ninth delivery. Ach, and now it’s raining again.
2nd over: England 5-1 (Beaumont 0, Taylor 2) Ellyse Perry, having scored the usual half-century, will take the new ball. She starts with a wide, though it wasn’t far from Taylor’s outside edge, and then Beaumont survives a huge LBW shout. I suspect it was just sliding down. There’s no DRS, so the umpire’s word is gospel. Beaumont is struggling to time it at the start of her innings; she has nought from seven balls.
1st over: England 3-1 (Beaumont 0, Taylor 1) The new batter is the little genius, Sarah Taylor. England are in some trouble, in both the match and the series. That’s an excellent start from Schutt.
No overs have been lost, despite the rain, so England still need 297 from 50 overs. And they are already in trouble! Lauren Winfield has gone third ball for two, whipping around her front pad at a big inswinger from Megan Schutt. That was plumb LBW.
Play will restart at 7pm (9am BST). Hurrah!
The umpires are inspecting as I type. Geoff tells me the groundstaff have cleared a lot of water off the covers, but the drainage is apparently pretty good.
Pretty, pretty good.
Some news is good news: the umpires hope play will resume within the next half hour or so.
The weather is looking a bit better. Scratch that, it’s looking a lot better. The sun has re-emerged and the groundstaff are going to work.
Alex Hails. pic.twitter.com/Ctj32eWWRe
Thanks Geoff, hello folks. For the last hour or so I’ve been wondering whether Rachael Haynes has ever batted better. What an eejit. Instead of ranking and rating her innings, I should have been enjoying and experiencing a mini-masterpiece of imagination, mischief, selflessness and clean hitting: 89 not out from 56 balls, with nine fours and three sixes. It was spectacular.
Eighty-nine is the magic number for Australia today; that’s also how many runs they smashed off the last nine overs of the innings to turn a good score into a formidable one. England’s target is 297, which would be the highest successful run-chase in women’s ODI history. Their best hope might be the weather: some malevolent clouds have gathered over the ground and, as Geoff said, it has started raining.
Well, what a knock from the new Australian captain. Haynes said she was nervous in the first game, and she came in at a difficult time, needing to steady things with a conservative knock. Today, having settled, she expressed herself. Hits all around the ground, some creative strokeplay, some classical shots, and luck in the form of that dropped catch only came at the end of her innings.
But a pretty even contribution across the board as well, with fifties to Healy, Perry, and Bolton, the latter the anchor and the others at a quick rate.
The scene at Coffs Harbour.
Sunshine, lights, apocalypse skies, and a slight rainbow. Welcome to Australia. #WomensAshespic.twitter.com/LhgLkYNkfm
50th over: Australia 296-6 (Haynes 89, Wellington 0)
Amanda Wellington comes to the middle, but McGrath had already crossed to get Haynes on strike. One ball to go. All she can do is watch and run. Haynes to finish it off drives down the ground hard for two more runs, sneaking back in despite a third-umpire review. She deserves the red ink today, after one hell of an innings, and she ends up on 89 not out.
Tahlia McGrath emerging with four balls to go. She didn’t get going the other day in Brisbane, so it’s interesting they’ve sent her out here. Perhaps thinking that it doesn’t matter at this stage off the innings, but they may as well give her the confidence by not bumping her. It doesn’t work, any rate, as she sweeps and top edges down to backward square and a sliding Hartley.
No surprises at this stage - a big slog and a top edge.
49th over: Australia 291-4 (Haynes 85, Blackwell 8)
Shrubsole bowling the second-last. Good tight death bowling from the attack leader, giving up just a single each ball. Just slows that charge a touch.
48th over: Australia 285-4 (Haynes 82, Blackwell 5)
She can’t be stopped. Gunn the bowler, Haynes lifts the ball over mid-off for yet another boundary. Blackwell finally gets strike, and slices another over cover. Fran Wilson was belting around hoping for a catch, but that ball kept tailing away from her in the air. Another dozen from the over.
47th over: Australia 273-4 (Haynes 75, Blackwell 1)
More like Rachael Pains. That’s what England have, as they drop another catch. Brunt the bowler, Haynes flicks off her pads high in the air to the midwicket fence. Beaumont is under the steepling catch, but somehow let’s it through her hands. Not just dropped, but it rolls back for four runs.
46th over: Australia 252-4 (Haynes 52, Blackwell 1)
Jenny Gunn: 8 overs, 2 for 37. Been important today, even if she’s flinching like a Labrador every time the sky speaks.
Finally, England get their breakthrough. Gunn bowls super wide of off, Perry was already advancing looking to attack, but didn’t bank on the line of the ball. She had a doomed attempt at making some contact with the bat, but Taylor was well positioned outside the sticks, and had the bails off in one smooth movement. I’ll bet that was a plan from bowler and keeper - Taylor was well wide of the sticks, but she still had the wicket broken before Perry had even turned around.
45th over: Australia 246-3 (Perry 66, Haynes 51)
More thunder, this one rolling back and forth like a full rack of billiard balls. More Katherine Brunt. Haynes has a wild swipe and misses it, and Taylor makes another brilliant take. She’s keeping up to the stumps to England’s fastest bowler. Haynes and Perry trade singles, then Haynes is able to round out a counter-attacking 50 from 35 balls.
44th over: Australia 241-3 (Perry 64, Haynes 48)
Another one in the slot for the Pez dispenser! Jenny Gunn bowls just outside off. Perry shuffles forward and makes it a half-volley, then gives it everything she’s got down the ground. Long-on is back, but Winfield doesn’t have a stepladder. There’s thunder rumbling in the hills, and other ominous signs for England. “Jenny Gunn is actually really scared of thunderstorms,” says Lisa Sthalekar on ABC radio. “The non-striker should be asking her if she heard that.” Jenny Gunn should be scared of Perry, on this evidence. Another double-figure over for Australia.
43rd over: Australia 231-3 (Perry 56, Haynes 46)
Haynes tries again, clearing the front leg and giving it everything, but she doesn’t hit it properly. Just as well for the Aussie skipper, as the ball falls short of long-on. Perry does the same in mirror-image, right-hander replacing left. Haynes realises the can’t find the gap straight, so goes a bit more across the line, and hits the gap at midwicket for four. There are two outfielders on that side of the stumps, but space between them. Ok, that’s the spot, says Haynes. Next ball, same direction, but longer and stronger. Six to the coastal side of the ground. What a knock from Haynes. 46 off 30.
42nd over: Australia 218-3 (Perry 54, Haynes 35)
Ecclestone’s last over. Haynes tries the ramp again, but misses it. Then tries a pull, but plays over the top of it. Slight bottom edge, leaving Taylor no chance as it bashed into her thigh and slipped away between her legs. Enough cute stuff, says Haynes, and thumps a full ball over long-on for six. There’s a catcher back there, but she can only wave to the ball as it goes by. Wide outside off for the next ball, and Haynes stands up tall and plays it off the face behind point. Good over, 11 from it. 48 balls to come.
41st over: Australia 207-3 (Perry 52, Haynes 26)
Coshed. Shrubsole bowls wide outside the southpaw’s off stump, and Haynes drives it for four. It was very full, she slammed it into the ground, but angled the bat just so, and like Rudyard Kipling’s stories, it worked. England have point and cover, but Haynes split them to the fence.
40th over: Australia 202-3 (Perry 50, Haynes 22)
A pull shot, a single, and an absolutely freakish set of numbers continues.
39th over: Australia 195-3 (Perry 48, Haynes 18)
Haynes! She’s come out in a very different vein this game. Sees a shorter length from Brunt, doesn’t rush, waits back and drop-kicks the pull shot over backward square for four.
38th over: Australia 189-3 (Perry 47, Haynes 13)
Sophie Ecclestone is back, with her left-arm tweak. Perry takes a single to cover. Haynes finds the field, then again. Ecclestone has landed the ball well today, really well. Just a couple of runs from the over.
37th over: Australia 187-3 (Perry 46, Haynes 12)
Ohhh dear, another simple one for England. Another caught and bowled spurned. Another one that could hurt. This time it’s Brunt, and she’s dropping ... Ellyse Perry. Nearing yet another 50. Perry smashed the drive straight at Brunt, it hit her high up on the hands, but she got both hands to it. Just too slow to respond. Brunt throws her head back in frustration.
36th over: Australia 178-3 (Perry 41, Haynes 8)
Lovely stuff from Haynes. Left-hander, gets width from Gunn, and opens the face to glide it away through backward point for four. Next ball, it’s fuller but still wide, and she drives that away off the open face. It doesn’t have the speed to reach the fence, but she gets a couple. Then runs a single off the open face. I may have spoken too soon on the Haynes velocitator.
35th over: Australia 170-3 (Perry 40, Haynes 1)
Pressure on Perry to make the running, given Haynes didn’t exactly fly along in her innings of 30 in the first ODI. Perry backs away from Hartley looking to make room, but Hartley follows her. Perry is able to scoop it over mid-on rather inelegantly, falling away, but gets enough on it to reach the rope.
34th over: Australia 164-3 (Perry 35)
I’ve said it before - Elyse Villani ain’t a top-order bat. At least not for Australia. Gets a wide ball, has a throw at it, but doesn’t get it cleanly. It rather loops up behind point, and that gives Heather Knight time to move to her left and dive, getting both hands to the ball. Great catch, but that ball shouldn’t have been in the air.
33rd over: Australia 161-2 (Perry 33, Villani 0)
A good start for Australia, but still plenty of opportunity for England to drag them back with some tidy bowling. The prime slogger Elyse Villani is at the crease. Let’s see what happens.
“@GeoffLemonSport” https://t.co/HtnW2lchc4 By the look of the radar Aus has about 40 minutes left before Coffs gets very wet
You may be in luck, Adam. Radar seems to suggest most of the rain will pass just to the South. pic.twitter.com/cDMj7gPWnn
She’s started opening up in the last few overs, but that was too open. Just after playing a legitimate switch-hit for a single, Bolton goes way outside her off stump, tries to thump one over the leg side, and loses her leg stump.
32nd over: Australia 159-1 (Bolton 65, Perry 32)
Bolton is fancying deep midwicket. Thuds Sciver in that direction for four, then tries again for two more. Sciver hits back by thudding a length ball into Bolton’s thigh, but the next shot makes contact for another single worked to the leg side.
31st over: Australia 151-1 (Bolton 58, Perry 31)
Consider this Bolton making up ground. She steps into Anya Shrubsole and utterly lashes the straight drive back underneath the bowler and straight for four. Powerful shot. This after Perry had chipped a couple of lucky runs over midwicket, trying to bang Shrubsole down the ground. As India found out in the World Cup, she’s not the easiest to blast.
30th over: Australia 141-1 (Bolton 52, Perry 27)
Sciver back to bowl, and Bolton brings up her fifty with two runs to third man. Taken her 90 balls to get there, she’ll want to make up a bit of ground in the back half.
29th over: Australia 136-1 (Bolton 48, Perry 26)
A big no-ball to start Shrubsole’s over. Bolton gets a single, so Perry has strike. The field can therefore change. Everyone goes back in the positions straight down the ground. Shrubsole produces a beauty, nails into the pads. Perry glides a run next ball, then Bolton dashes a very quick single to mid-on, complete with a dive. Gets in. Very tidy from Shrubsole, considering the start.
28th over: Australia 133-1 (Bolton 47, Perry 25)
Sydney Sixer! Perry sees one float up from Ecclestone, leans back a touch, and dumps it waaaay over midwicket onto the hill on the coastal side of the ground. That sailed over the rope, fence, and footpath. There’s a big banner out there saying #BeatEngland, which is the apparently inspiring slogan that CA marketing has devised, and Perry is trying to do that. She’s up at a run a ball.
27th over: Australia 125-1 (Bolton 45, Perry 19)
“Bring me a shrubbery!” says Heather Knight, and lo, Shrubsole appears. No great threats, she’s worked around for five runs. Perry 19 off 24, outpacing Bolton easily on 45 off 83.
26th over: Australia 120-1 (Bolton 43, Perry 16)
Ecclestone with a quiet, two-run affair.
25th over: Australia 118-1 (Bolton 42, Perry 15)
That’s ordinary from Hartley. Dropped a catch off her own bowling in Brisbane, and that turned out to be crucial. Here she fumbles a take from a hard Perry drive, and it gets through her hands for four. Straight down the ground.
24th over: Australia 112-1 (Bolton 41, Perry 10)
Another fine shot from Perry, on the back foot to late cut Sophie Ecclestone. Picks up a couple.
23rd over: Australia 109-1 (Bolton 40, Perry 8)
Perry away quickly, with a flicked boundary from the first ball of Hartley’s over. Lovely early stuff. Takes pressure off Bolton.
@GeoffLemonSport what's your thoughts re best route for truncated first innings with D/L to set the total? Fine balancing act required here
22nd over: Australia 103-1 (Bolton 39, Perry 3)
Big shout from Ecclestone against Bolton. That looked pretty out, as she dropped to one knee to sweep. Maybe it just struck outside the line. Just. Maybe. Looked good though.
21st over: Australia 100-1 (Bolton 38, Perry 1)
Hartley cashes in with a quiet over, two singles from it. Perry at the crease.The Aussie hundred up.
20th over: Australia 98-1 (Bolton 37)
Finally the Ashes debutante gets through. Healy had already smacked a cover drive through the field for a couple of runs, then tried another that just may have been grassed by Nat Sciver at cover, or landed just in front of her. Those deliveries had flight. For the final ball of the over, coming around the wicket, Ecclestone angled one very fast and flat. Healy went back to cut, didn’t realise it was coming on quickly and straight, and her attempted cut shot was easily beaten, costing her off stump.
19th over: Australia 94-0 (Bolton 36, Healy 53)
That’s a good stroke from Bolton at last. They always say, once you nail your first reverse sweep, you’ve got your eye in. Hartley have enough width, and the left-hander is quick to swap her bat around and send the ball fine. Seven off Hartley’s over, and 50 runs from the last six overs.
18th over: Australia 87-0 (Bolton 31, Healy 51)
Great innings from Healy, she’s breathed life into this team knock. Brings up the fifty with a single through midwicket. Bolton gets an unconvincing boundary forcing through backward point. Ecclestone the bowler.
17th over: Australia 80-0 (Bolton 26, Healy 49)
Left-arm spin twins: another double change as Alex Hartley comes on. She’s much smaller and neater than Ecclestone, an exercise in contrast within disciplines. Healy has had enough of waiting around though, and skips down to a well shaped delivery to smack it over cover. It barely clears the potential catcher, but does. That puts off Hartley, who bowls an absolute trash follow-up, short and flat and going down leg. Healy clubs that through backward square for four more.
16th over: Australia 69-0 (Bolton 26, Healy 41)
Drinks, drinks, drinks. Sorry, that was just my interior monologue. The players are having some water as well. Now it’s time for an Ashes bowling debut for Sophie Ecclestone. A somewhat oxidised start for the tall left-armer, dropping a full toss on leg stump that a startled Healy can only dink away for a single to deep square. Better with the second ball! A huge appeal for caught behind as Bolton has a big drive.
15th over: Australia 66-0 (Bolton 25, Healy 39)
Healy needs her breath back. Taps a single from Gunn to get off strike, but gets it back faster than she might have expected. Oh well, says she, guess I’ll try to slap another four over midwicket. But they’re harder to hit from Gunn. This one hangs in the air like an awkward silence, and Lauren Winfield is tracking around from deep square leg. The ball pitches and spins back sharply, meaning it could have dinked through Winfield for four, but she anticipated that magnificently and slapped down the ball as it tried to pass her. Only two runs, in the end. Another single to Healy, then a big appeal against Bolton ends the over. Not out.
14th over: Australia 61-0 (Bolton 24, Healy 35)
Six! Finally Healy says it’s time to go. Length ball from Sciver, and the Aussie keeper drives through the line with elbow high, catches the downground breeze, and it carries the rope straight. Brings up Australia’s 50th run. Two balls later, Healy gets a similar delivery and goes squarer, flicking over midwicket for four. A brace towards midwicket as well, then it’s a juicy full toss and she slaps it dismissively the same direction for four more. Sciver has been rattled. A single to end the over, and it’s worth 17.
13th over: Australia 44-0 (Bolton 24, Healy 18)
Healy works the gap at cover for another single. Best they can get. Another classic Jenny Gunn over worth three runs.
12th over: Australia 41-0 (Bolton 23, Healy 16)
Sciver short and wide, and Bolton gets a streaky four. “Shot,” says the gentleman down the row from me, but that’s generous. The Hot Spot shows that wasn’t just the top edge, but also the toe. It clipped the upper corner of the horizontal blade as Bolton tried to cut. That was enough to take it through a fine third man.
11th over: Australia 36-0 (Bolton 19, Healy 15)
This OBO is supposed to be about you, you know. Get me on Twitter at @GeoffLemonSport, or email geoff.lemon@theguardian.com, to give me your thoughts on this game, your stories of Coffs Harbour, your fear of supercell storms, whatever you want to share.
10th over: Australia 34-0 (Bolton 18, Healy 14)
Some more very medium pace in another change. As Coldplay almost said, don’t you Natalie Sciver, Sciver, Sciver.
9th over: Australia 29-0 (Bolton 17, Healy 10)
Change in the bowling, Jenny Gunn is on. She’s one of those deceptive, Chris Harris type bowlers, usually slow but very hard to hit. Gunn does exactly what she aims to do, here - just bowls very straight, Australia can’t get her away, and the infielders at cover and mid-off get a workout stopping each shot. There’s only a Bolton single to deep square leg from the last ball. 17 off 36 for Bolton.
8th over: Australia 28-0 (Bolton 16, Healy 10)
Brunt is coming around the wicket to Bolton, bat face coming from third slip and then straightening in the final twitch as the opener awaits. With that angle in, Brunt first nails Bolton’s front pad, but is told by Claire Polosak that the ball is going down leg. Then Brunt gets an inside edge into the pad that could have snuck through onto the stumps. She ends with a very wide full ball that draws an awkward drive. Only a single from the over. Bolton brought to you by S. T. Ruggle.
7th over: Australia 27-0 (Bolton 15, Healy 10)
Bolton is struggling to get going here. A few more dots from Shrubsole, a wide, and finally Bolton flails at one and edges four through the slips. Some might call that a cut shot, but I’m not entirely sure it was intended or controlled. Takes a single thereafter. But there is English pressure building.
6th over: Australia 21-0 (Bolton 10, Healy 10)
They’re running this single well, another quick one as Wilson dashed across to midwicket to slide and stop the ball, but Bolton ran with the stroke and so was through safely to the non-striker’s end. Healy drives nicely, on the rise through cover, and will get another two runs. Brunt is going red with the heat and effort, and looking even less impressed than usual. Comes back with an effort ball, back of a length and into the pads, and Healy can only shovel it to mid-on, not a timed stroke at all.
5th over: Australia 18-0 (Bolton 9, Healy 8)
Some good ground fielding at mid-on, as Healy cracks the ball along the ground to Shrubsole but can’t get the drive through. Lovely shot for nada. Gets another single to cover, then Bolton plays cleverly, crouching low and reaching for a wide full ball to guide it through slips and down to third man. There’s a fielder in the deep, so only a single results.
4th over: Australia 16-0 (Bolton 8, Healy 7)
Brunt continuing, and Healy plays tap-and-run into the covers for a single. Ah, the beauty of intimate grounds - there’s another ball too straight to Bolton, and you can clearly hear Brunt go “Awwww shit!” as she watches Bolton punch two runs through midwicket. Not exactly a dominant start from four overs, though, no need to despair.
3rd over: Australia 13-0 (Bolton 6, Healy 6)
Oh, yes. This pitch is playing really nicely. Bolton gets a full ball on the pads from Shrubsole and flicks it delightfully, away behind square. That’s the only score from the over.
2nd over: Australia 9-0 (Bolton 2, Healy 6)
Healy. First ball, four. Brunt bowls full, Healy cracks the cover drive. She has, I reckon, the best first 10 balls of any player in the world. Always hits them beautifully. And then usually gets out for a gorgeous 12 or a rollicking 16. Would love to see what she can do if she can break through that barrier. The pitch looks good in terms of pace coming through, though the outfield really does look lush. As well as Healy timed that drive, it was still slowing considerably by the rope. Healy shovels a couple more runs through midwicket.
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Bolton 2, Healy 0)
Here we go. Shrubsole to start from the.... Giant Tree End? Wait, that’s both ends. Decent crowd in filling the pavilion, but the hills and grassy banks are for the brave, under the afternoon sun. Shrubsole starts full and straight, except for one delivery that slips wide, and Bolton the leftie is able to slap is through cover for two. The outfield looks pretty lush, it might take a bit of pace off some shots.
Apparently there’s a free stream of this game in England, via Martin Davies. It’s also, remarkably, legal and legitimate.
Free livestream of today's 2nd Aus v Eng ODI for UK should be here...https://t.co/FDjUHC8Dcv
Coffs Harbour really is a lovely spot. On the coast, between the Pacific Ocean and the rolling green hinterland toward Dorrigo. Sub-tropical, swathes of forest and national park. Where the flame trees will blind the weary driver. Where the Big Banana stands proud. Phil Hughes country, Macksville, Nambucca. Yes, this part of Australia. It really is good to be here.
Coffs Harbour scenes 1 #WomensAshespic.twitter.com/9J9u3LCJ4F
Coffs Harbour scenes 2#WomensAshespic.twitter.com/6uIgYFvLEt
And this is our work spot for the day. Not too shabby. #WomensAshespic.twitter.com/eMvAKUonmB
Australia: Bolton, Healy, Perry, Villani, Haynes, Blackwell, McGrath, Wellington, Jonassen, Schutt, Beams.
England: Beaumont, Winfield, Taylor, Knight, Sciver, Wilson, Brunt, Gunn, Shrubsole, Ecclestone, Hartley.
With that potential rain around, England want the vengeful gods of Duckworth and Lewis on their side. Team management will be burning a pile of pocket calculators in offering.
Adam is at 50-50 on his John Edward routine: Ecclestone will play for Marsh, while Gardner’s replacement is Kristen Beams.
Big news - Ashleigh Gardner is out. She sealed the game with the bat in Game 1, after taking another three wickets with the ball. She’s had a great run. But she also top-edged a sweep from Katherine Brunt into her helmet at one stage, and she now has mild concussion.
Adam Collins has been down at ground level reading the body language of the players in the warm-ups - he is the Cricket Whisperer. He says that Laura Marsh is not going to play for England, and Sophie Ecclestone will come into the side. For Australia, his replacement tip for Gardner is Lauren Cheatle. Gardner has been batting at eight, so Australia will need another bowler.
What ho, fox fanciers. Welcome to El Blog from a gorgeous, sunny, gentle Coffs Harbour. At least for now. The sun may be shining, the breeze may be playful, the surf may be so close that you can smell the salt. But there’s also a potential super-cell storm brewing over south-east Queensland, which may send some ancillary thunderstorms down to northern New South Wales later this afternoon, local time.
Why do they even bother playing cricket in this country, et cetera, et cetera.
Geoff will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Mel Jones on the young women giving the tourists sleepless nights.
Related: Australian youth causing Women's Ashes headaches for England | Mel Jones
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