Australia retained the Women’s Ashes at the earliest opportunity with a 57-run thrashing over England in the first T20 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
England slumped to 141 all out in 16 overs after being set an imposing 199 to win, despite Sophia Dunkley’s brilliant 59 from 30 balls in her first appearance of the tour.
Dunkley put England in a great position by reaching 62-3 from the six-over powerplay and 96-3 at the halfway mark.
But the last seven wickets fell for 45 runs as Australia turned the screw, with leg-spinners Alana King and Georgia Wareham taking 2-14 and 3-25 respectively.
The victory gives Australia an 8-0 points lead in the multi-format series, meaning England can only draw if they win all of their remaining matches.
Dunkley’s fearless approach from number three was all the more impressive considering England had suffered another top-order failure, with openers Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt-Hodge falling for ducks in the first two overs.
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 20 was the next top score as England buckled under the run-rate pressure, but they also paid the price for conceding too many runs via some loose bowling and several mistakes in the field despite winning the toss.
Beth Mooney made 75 from 51 balls at the top of the order for Australia, but she was dropped by Amy Jones on 16 and there was another missed opportunity on 23 when a miscommunication between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Charlie Dean saw them leave a straightforward catch to one another and it eventually plugged in the outfield.
Sophie Ecclestone’s exceptional figures of 2-26 were an outlier in an unconvincing bowling effort, as every other bowler finished with an economy rate of more than eight an over.
The second of three T20s, all worth two points each, takes place in Canberra on Thursday.
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