Meg Lanning leads the way as Australia clean sweep Women’s Ashes ODIs

Australia’s women finished a clean sweep of the one-day matches concluding the multiformat Ashes series, winning the third ODI by eight wickets to ensure that England finished winless on tour. A total of 163 was passed by Australia in 36.2 overs, with the old firm of Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry unbeaten after 90 runs together. In a final series points tally of 12-4, England’s points came from two 20-over matches that were rained off and Canberra’s last-gasp Test match draw.

England attempted a shake-up, leaving out opener Lauren Winfield-Hill, middle-order bat Sophia Dunkley, and in-form bowler Kate Cross to make room for squad players Emma Lamb, Tash Farrant and Freya Davies, with Danni Wyatt moving up from No7 to accommodate the latter two bowlers. Given her team’s previous innings of 129 after being sent in, there was boldness in Heather Knight’s decision to bat first. On the same Junction Oval surface in Melbourne, at the same 10am, she looked like a captain determined to make her charges take on a challenge and rectify their mistakes.

What followed instead was a collective resiling from that. Asked to open the batting on her one-day debut in the last match of a lost tour, Lamb was led in proverbial style to her quick dispatching by Ellyse Perry. Tammy Beaumont, Knight, and Natalie Sciver proceeded to play with ovine timidity. Three scoreless overs followed the Lamb dismissal, then as soon as Knight stroked a couple of boundaries she was yorked by Tahlia McGrath. The score at ten overs was 20 for 2.

On went Beaumont and Sciver, blocking straight back down the pitch. Perry bowled a good spell of six overs straight, backed up by Megan Schutt, McGrath, and Annabel Sutherland. It was a tricky surface where attacking