Sciver-Brunt, Capsey deliver historic series win

In a rain-marred contest, an all-round show from Nat Sciver-Brunt and an aggressive cameo from Alice Capsey gave England a five-wicket win over Australia in the T20I series decider at Lord's on Saturday (July 8). It was the World Champions' first bilateral series defeat in the format since 2017 and this result also meant that England's fightback to regain the multi-format urn was very much on.

Opting to bowl on a slightly tacky surface, England's bowlers managed to stifle the run flow from the get-go with none of the Australian batters finding it easy to force the pace. The trio of Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry and Grace Harris struck the ball around a bit at the back end to push the total past the 150-run mark. There was a brief rain delay after the 15-over mark and once play resumed, Australia were able to connect better with their powerhitting.

The rain clearly quickened up the surface even as the outfield remained sluggish. Australia's total of 155 seemed about 10 runs under-par but still looked competitive. However, more rain arrived at the innings break and England's chase was reduced to 14 overs with a DLS target of 119. Danielle Wyatt got the hosts off to a flier in the powerplay with a flurry of boundaries to give some early impetus.

Australia fought back strongly by removing both the openers off successive deliveries and the usually fluent Nat Sciver-Brunt couldn't time the ball fluidly either as she hung in there. However, Capsey was on song as she tore into the Australian attack with some crisp ball-striking and this ensured that England continued to be ahead in the run chase. Despite losing a few wickets at the fag end, the result was never in doubt.

Brief scores: Australia 155/7 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 34, Ash Gardner 32; Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-31) lost to England 121/5 in 13.2 overs (Alice Capsey 46, Danielle Wyatt 26; Megan Schutt 2-35) by 5 wickets (DLS method)