England lose second Women’s Ashes ODI which seals series win for Australia

Australia have defeated England by five wickets in the second ODI of the Women’s Ashes in Melbourne.

The win pushed Australia to a 10-4 lead in the series and sealed an Ashes series victory with just one ODI remaining on Monday.

Australia won the toss and sent England to bat first. The tourists, who dropped star bowler Katherine Brunt from the team for the day, only racked up 129 runs.

England’s lacklustre batting left them with the top score of 22 off 35 from Amy Jones.

The target was an easy one for Australia to chase and, despite the locals losing wickets quickly early on, they clinched the victory in the 36th over.

Elyse Perry was awarded player of the match, having taken three wickets and becoming top scorer with 40 runs from 64 balls.

England all-rounder Nat Sciver told the BBC: “We’re looking ahead to the World Cup now and making sure we put things right before that.Lessons learned.”

Perry said: “To win the Ashes with a game to spare is lovely. There were some really great performances today.”

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