England dealt first World Cup defeat by Australia

Indore, ICC Women’s World Cup

England 244-9 (50 overs): Beaumont 78 (105), Sutherland 3-60

Australia 248-4 (40.3 overs): Gardner 104* (73), Sutherland 98* (112), Smith 2-43

By six wickets, Australia won.

In Indore, England lost their first match of the Women’s World Cup against the formidable defending champions Australia, who were six wickets away.

With 9.3 overs to spare, Australia experienced a top-order slump, falling to 24-3 and 68-4 before making a flawless 180-over-a-series partnership with Annabel Sutherland and Ash Gardner.

As Australia’s astonishing batting depth again rose, Sutherland, who also took three wickets in England’s 244-9, came in with 98, and Gardner, who also took three wickets, recorded a sensational 104 from 73 balls.

As England overcame an uncharacteristically sloppy start from the Australian bowlers, adding 55 in eight overs, the openers Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones both had their moments.

However, Jones’ dismissal, which was assisted by a Sutherland beauty, put the brakes on.

With a top score of 78, Beaumont was in much-needed form, but leg-spinner Alana King, who took 1-20 in 10 overs, caused the middle order to come to a standstill.

Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt, England’s middle-order glue, were only successful on 20 and seven balls, respectively, while Emma Lamb struggled to reach six and remained unbeaten.

With the help of Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean once more added a valuable stand of 61 from 52 balls, but the total was still significantly below par in the face of such a stellar batting line-up.

Before scurrying through the gears to punish an England bowling attack without any options, neither of whom had a chance in a masterclass of one-day batting, the pair cautiously rebuilt the innings before racing through the gears.

Australia have faced a few batting issues so far in the competition, most notably with their top-order performances against Pakistan and New Zealand, but what makes them so admirable is that they will always step up when others fall short.

Sutherland’s previous appearances with the bat were five, one, and nought despite her bowling prowess, but she did so this time with the bat and showed incredible composure.

England made a fantastic start, with Lauren Bell striking out to beat Phoebe Litchfield in the opening over, Georgia Voll swiping over Linsey Smith, and Ellyse Perry returning to the same bowler for 13 more.

Sutherland steadied the ship first with the left-handed Beth Mooney, before Sciver-Brunt brilliantly caught the former at midwicket off Sophie Ecclestone to restore momentum to England.

England didn’t even get a taste of it there. With a fifty from 66 balls, Sutherland found the perfect match for Gardner’s counter-attack.

As they searched for wickets that would start to leak runs at a canter, England’s heads sank in the face of such a class. Gardner’s second century of the tournament came from 69 balls, making the matchup between the two all-rounders to see who could win first.

After England were hit by a 16-0 thrashing defeat at the start of the year, the eagerly awaited Ashes reunion came back on track, having previously been unbeaten and greatly improved by a big win over India in their previous match.

An England side that might have put the pain behind them and had the ability to launch the attack at their best was a good sight from the start.

Megan Schutt and Kim Garth were sloppy, bowling extremely full, and looking for a swing that wasn’t available, and Beaumont and Jones capitalized by finding the boundary with ease square of the ground.

After a difficult start to the tournament, both openers have a half-century to go in consecutive matches. Beaumont’s was rewarded for doing this with a boundary-bound fifty, which she faced with 39 dots.

Sutherland, the world’s best wicket-taker, took out Jones’ off-spin for 18 and turned the tables on him, turning the tables.

England’s Ashes nemesis King was then unplayable once more. England were very passive against her, unable to find ways to turn the strike around and put pressure back on, despite the fact that she had 41 dot balls in her 10-over spell and found an incredible 4.7 degrees of spin.

As Australia gradually lost their discipline, Capsey and Dean took the lead with 76 runs in the final 10 overs, but England only added 26 runs as a result of the play between 21 and 30.