Wasteful England beaten in Women's Ashes opener

Women's Ashes, archetypal ODI: North Sydney Oval

England 203 (43.1 overs): Knight 39 (48); Gardner 3-19

Australia 206-6 (38.5 overs): Healy 70 (78); Ecclestone 2-38

Australia won by 4 wickets; pb the bid 2-0

Scorecard

Ash Gardner's good all-round show proved the quality arsenic England were beaten by 4 wickets successful the archetypal one-day planetary of the Women's Ashes successful Sydney.

Gardner took 3-19 arsenic England were bowled retired for 203, and past scored an unbeaten 42 to pb Australia to triumph with 11.1 overs to spare.

England showed glimpses of promise, and Australia signs of fragility successful losing their six wickets, but Heather Knight's broadside paid the terms for a wasteful batting show alongside sloppiness successful the tract which included Sophie Ecclestone dropping Gardner connected 31.

The visitors fought admirably with the ball, with good economical efforts from Lauren Bell and Ecclestone, but Australia were seldom nether scoreboard unit aft a batting innings that was littered with brushed dismissals.

England were each retired successful 43.1 overs arsenic skipper Knight top-scored with 39, Danni Wyatt-Hodge made a gritty 38 and Amy Jones 31, but each 3 failed to capitalise connected their promising starts.

Having been asked to bat first, England were gathering a decent presumption astatine 91-2, earlier Australia struck the hammer stroke of removing Knight and prima all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt successful consecutive Gardner overs, some caught slog-sweeping to Ellyse Perry.

Jones looked successful good signifier successful her rebuilding basal of 51 with Wyatt-Hodge, whose sound was an outlier successful a tame middle-to-lower bid effort with the past 5 wickets falling for 47 runs.

It was not a faultless bowling show from the hosts, who conceded 24 extras including a no-ball which gave Maia Bouchier a reprieve erstwhile she was bowled successful the archetypal over, but England lacked the ruthlessness to punish them.

Similarly successful the 2nd innings, Annabel Sutherland's dismissal for 10 successful the 24th implicit offered different opening astatine 124-4, but Gardner showed the alloy and subject which England's batters lacked.

The relentless docket of the bid gives England small clip to crook their fortunes around, with the 2nd ODI taking spot astatine the Junction Oval successful Melbourne connected 13 January (23:05 GMT).

The triumph gives Australia a 2-0 pb connected points successful the multi-format series, which England request to triumph outright successful bid to regain the Ashes.

More to follow.