Australia win Women’s Ashes Test by 89 runs as Ash Gardner spins the Aussies to victory with stunning eight-wicket spell in the second innings…leaving England needing to win FIVE of the next six matches to win the series
- Australia won only Test match of the series by 89 runs at Trent Bridge
- Ash Gardner finished with eight for 66 in the second innings
- Australia lead 4-0 and only need another point to retain the Ashes
England have been left with a mountain to climb to regain the Women’s Ashes after Australia seized the upper hand in the multi-format series by triumphing in the lone Test.
Resuming on 116 for five in pursuit of 268 on a final day where Trent Bridge threw open its gates free of charge, England subsided to 178 all out inside 90 minutes despite a defiant 54 from Danni Wyatt.
Wily off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner’s eight for 66 saw her walk away with a 12-wicket match haul as Australia claimed an 89-run victory to collect four all-important points ahead of the ODIs and T20s.
Australia won the women’s Ashes Test by 89 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday
Ashleigh Gardner took eight wickets in the second innings as England crumbled to 178 all out
Gardner took 12 wickets in the match, the second-best figures in the history of women’s Tests
If England are to retrieve the urn for the first time since 2015 they will have to prevail in five of the six white-ball contests against the ODI and T20 world champions, with two points per win on offer.
‘I really thought we were going to do it this morning, so I’m pretty disappointed. It was pretty hard to bat out there,’ England batter Danni Wyatt told BBC Sports.
‘Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone had a good effort out there.
‘There is a sense of missed opportunity, we will have a chat in the changing room about it.
‘There are a lot of positives so we have to try to dust this down and smash them in the white ball stuff.
‘There’s a few tired bodies out there and now we just need to dust ourselves off and get ready for the next challenge.
‘It’s very different to ODIs and it’s been challenging. Australia are the world’s best team for a reason, they have a number of world class players but so do we but we’ll feel confident going into the T20s.’
Australia batter Tahlia McGrath said the tourists would not get carried away with the result.
‘We were cautious coming into this seres. England are playing really well,’ she said.
‘Playing in away conditions we knew it would be tough, there’s still six games to go and we’ll celebrate today and then prepare again. The game just changed all the time, with the ball we just needed to stay patient.’