A magnificent all-round performance from Tahlia McGrath led Australia to an emphatic T20 victory over England on the opening night of the Women’s Ashes at the Adelaide Oval.
Danni Wyatt’s 70 saw England set Australia a lofty 170 for victory but McGrath, who had already taken three crucial late wickets to deny the tourists a grandstand finish, blasted 91 off just 49 deliveries to steer the hosts to their highest ever T20 run chase with a full three overs to spare.
Australia, who made a huge call in leaving star all-rounder Elyse Perry out of their XI in favour of Grace Harris, won the toss and sent England in to bat but were a long way short of their best with ball in hand.
On a fine batting surface, openers Tammy Beaumont and Wyatt put on a quick-fire 82 for the first wicket before the former fell caught and bowled to Alana King as the debutant picked up her maiden international wicket at the start of the 11th over.
Nat Sciver joined Wyatt and struck a swift 32 off 23 balls before both were removed by McGrath, who took the two wickets in three balls in a superb yorker spell to check England’s charge heading into the death.
McGrath, by some distance the pick of the Aussie bowlers, added the wicket of Amy Jones in the penultimate over to finish with figures of three for 26 but Sophia Dunkley and captain Heather Knight both found the boundary in the final over as the tourists finished on 169 for four.
That represented the highest score any team had ever managed in a T20i against Australia and the home side’s task in pursuing a record run chase looked an even taller one when Sophie Ecclestone made an early breakthrough, removing Alyssa Healy for just seven.
From there, however, McGrath took charge, hammering 13 fours and a six as she and captain Meg Lanning (64* off 44) shared an unbroken 144-run partnership to canter home with nine wickets in hand.
The result gives Australia a 2-0 lead in the multi-format series, with two points on offer for victory in each of the three T20s and three ODIs, which come either side of a one-off Test worth four points. The remaining two T20s take place at the same venue on Saturday and Sunday.
