Australia’s clean sweep of England is on track after rain played havoc with the second Twenty20, cutting the match short with five balls to go.
Australia’s clean sweep of England is on track after rain played havoc with the second Twenty20, cutting the match short with five balls to go.
I am keeping my eyes glued to the DLS rate and Australia have managed to really slow down this English charge.
I am seeing a few umbrellas around the ground, but I am also seeing some picnic blankets with fans stoically sitting there. It is summer after all. The England team could not feel more at home.
If England have two batters that can get them home, it is Knight and Sciver-Brunt. Georgia Wareham frantically is drying the ball and trying to get more purchase on it. It’s not a great place to be as a spinner with this moisture on the field.
We have Kim Garth in to bowl, she grew up playing summers of cricket in Ireland, if ever there was a player perfectly suited for the conditions the teams are dealing with, it is the talented bowler.
England 3-110 (after 14 overs)
That was the opposite of the blog writer’s curse. Australia desperately needed Sophia Dunkley’s wicket, and she is bowled beautifully by Megan Schutt.
Dunkley is gone for 32, and that is as important as it gets.
England’s two trusted pillars of Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt are in, and either of them fall? The whole house is likely to come down.
Game on.
England 3-99 (after 13 overs)
A massive sigh of relief from Tahlia McGrath as she catches Dani Wyatt-Hodge who is halting on 52 from 40 deliveries. Some redemption for the skipper after dropping Sophia Dunkley, who is still there and firing on 32.
According to the weather radar, there is another heavy bit of rain to come over Canberra. I will be surprised if we can get through the rest of this game, but fingers crossed we can.
Australia are getting a little bit more rhythm here and if they can get Sophia Dunkley out, it’s completely open.
England 2-98 (after 12 overs)
It’s been a tough enough night for Alana King, and now Australia’s second leggy is into bowl.
It’s very tough for the bowlers to grip this soggy ball and if Wyatt-Hodge or Dunkley get enough on the ball, it absolutely flies on the outfield.
I am keeping a close eye on DLS par. Thank god there is a computer to do this complex maths as numeracy is not one of my strengths. We are currently at DLS par of 87 with England on 92. Thanks to two fours to end the 11th over from Wyatt-Hodge.
Every run is going to count out here and this is not an easy night for the bowlers. That coin toss could well prove to be crucial.
England 1-92 (after 11 overs)
Full toss to Sophia Dunkley and she nonchalantly smacks the ball which slices through the grease outfield and flies for four.
Second ball, the skipper Tahlia McGrath misses a really big chance to catch Dunkley. Huge chance gone and King goes to her knees.
That could really cost Australia.
England 1-74 (after nine overs)
Great news, both teams are back out on the ground and the umbrellas have come down, hopefully for a while.
I was getting flashbacks to a long-forgotten childhood in Belfast fielding in drizzly rain while the umpire stood stoically on the astroturf wicket in a yellow oil skin. DLS didn’t exist there, as if every game stopped due to rain, there wouldn’t have been any games finished.
Thankfully that was then, this is now. Australia must work to slow up this English run rate, and the first wicket needed if we have a wish list is Sophia Dunkley.
Tahlia McGrath will have had time to chat to her team in the sheds and she knows it’s all to play for. Australia are chasing the Ashes outright, and England are desperate to prove the doubters wrong and avoid a white wash.
England 1-69 (after eight overs)
Absolute chaos here, as Alana King tries to keep a grip on the slippery ball and England’s Sophia Dunkley gets a four with outfield especially greasy.
Both teams go in with the rain coming down heavily. Australia are not happy, England’s batters look elated.
That four has also given England the lead by two runs with the DLS par rate of 67 runs.
Hopefully both teams can come out, but looking at the rain radar, this looks like a fairly thick batch of rain hitting the capital.
What a way for England to win this game if this stands. All fingers crossed Australia can get back out there.
The DLS is hovering at 61 with England currently at 1-62.
So Australia will have to be very careful now to slow up this England run rate, as you sense that the rollers will be coming at some stage.
Not going completely to plan as Sophia Dunkley crunches an Ellyse Perry delivery and gets England’s first six.
Vitally her next two balls are dots, which could end up being important as the rain really comes in.
It would be a terrible way to end the game, but here we are.
England 1-62 (after eight overs)
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