King, Garth inspire Aussie escape to clinch ODI series

Australia have pulled a rabbit out of a hat, defending 180 to seal a thrilling 21-run win in the second Ashes ODI courtesy of an inspired bowling display from Kim Garth and Alana King.

The Aussies had reduced England to 9-146 in the 43rd over at Melbourne's CitiPower Centre when set batter Amy Jones (47no off 103) was joined by No.11 Lauren Bell.

With a scrappy Jones farming the strike and the hosts barely giving an inch, equation had climbed to 28 from 18 balls when a bizarre 48th over saw Annabel Sutherland bowl two waist-high no balls to Jones to be forced out of the attack.

When Tahlia McGrath bowled the final ball of the over, Jones dispatched the free hit into the deep but – astonishingly – chose not to take the single.

That exposed Bell to the penultimate over and Megan Schutt duly cleaned up her stumps, bowing England out for 159 and sealing a memorable win that will leave both teams with plenty of ponder ahead of Friday's third ODI in Hobart.

England had looked set to claim their first points of the Ashes when Sophie Ecclestone claimed 4-35, her best ODI figures against Australia, alongside fellow spinner Alice Capsey (3-22) to bowl Australia out in 44.3 overs.

Australia were cruising at 2-131 in the 24th over when Beth Mooney was dismissed and from there they lost 8-49 – their worst collapse since 2004 – to be bowled out for under 200 in a home one-dayer for the first time since 2009. Ellyse Perry's 60 from 74 balls was the only major contribution.

Needing something special with the ball to extend their lead in the multi-format, points-based series, Garth (3-37) and King (4-25) produced exactly that.

Garth struck twice in the first six overs to remove both openers, dismissing Tammy Beaumont (3) lbw on review before Maia Bouchier skied a simple chance to point.

Heather Knight and Sciver-Brunt steadied proceedings with a 41-run stand, but when the Australian spinners broke through to remove the set senior stars, a middle-order wobble of 3-16 put Australia right back in the match.

Gardner got one to grip and bounce at Knight, catching a leading edge that resulted in a simple return catch, dismissing the England captain for 18. King then cleaned up Wyatt-Hodge for a golden duck as she tossed up a delivery that spun in and crashed into off stump.

The leg-spinner also secured the key wicket of Sciver-Brunt for 35 when the star allrounder also produced a leading edge to Phoebe Litchfield at cover, leaving England 5-84 and still 97 runs adrift of their target.

When Jones and Alice Capsey dug in to frustrate the Aussies, Healy threw the ball back to Garth and the former Irish quick thought she had dismissed both batters in the one over, only for Capsey to overturn an lbw while Gardner put down a simple chance at backward point off Jones, then on 21.

But there was no denying Garth next over as she trapped Capsey plumb for 14, then King removed Charlie Dean and Ecclestone with consecutive deliveries to have England eight down with 56 runs still required.

The ninth wicket was a calamity; Jones paddled a high full toss from Schutt and Lauren Filer took off for a single. She was sent back, slipped over and was subsequently run out, leaving Australia one wicket away.

It was all down to Jones, whose efforts at farming the strike got England close, but her late brain fade meant she was left stranded on 47 from 103 balls when Bell was bowled.

Sent in by England who hoped early morning cloud cover would aid their new-ball quicks, Healy picked up where she left off in the opening ODI, smacking six boundaries to put pressure on Filer.

When Bell had the Australia captain caught behind for a 19-ball 29, Ellyse Perry settled in, keeping the pressure off opener Phoebe Litchfield, who never looked fluent as she scrapped her way to 29 from 50 deliveries before she was trapped lbw looking to reverse sweep Ecclestone's second delivery.

Mooney was the third to fall, also lbw to Ecclestone, but when Perry brought up her half-century from 52 deliveries, she looked on track for a big score – as did Australia.

However, the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion when the allrounder was dismissed by the off-spin of Capsey, with England successfully reviewing an lbw shout.

Capsey had only taken five ODI wickets going into Tuesday's game – and had a less-than-ideal start to her spell when she dropped a simple return catch off Annabel Sutherland – but the 20-year-old reaped the benefits of the pressure created by Ecclestone at the other end.

Australia lost 4-7 in 27 balls as Capsey had Sutherland brilliantly caught by Knight at cover for 11, then bowled Ashleigh Gardner (2).

Filer made a wayward return to the attack as her footwork struggles continued, but she got one delivery right on target to knock over an out-of-sorts Tahlia McGrath (1), before Ecclestone cleaned up the tail.

Australia were bowled out in the 45th over, with only King (13) reaching double figures of batters 6-11.

Both teams will fly to Hobart on Wednesday to prepare of the third and final ODI at Bellerive Oval on Friday.

Commbank Women's Ashes 2025

Australia lead the multi-format series 4-0

First ODI: Australia won by six wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by 21 runs

Third ODI: January 17: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 10.05am AEDT

First T20I: January 20: SCG, Sydney, 7.15pm AEDT

Second T20I: January 23: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7.15pm AEDT

Third T20I: January 25: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 6.45pm ACDT (7.15pm AEDT)

Australia squad (ODI/T20Is): Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris+, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

England squad (ODI/T20Is): Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross*, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson+, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath+, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp+, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith+, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

* ODIs only; + T20Is only

Day-night Test: January 30 - February 2: MCG, Melbourne, 2.30pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: TBC

England Test squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

The rivalry resumes with a blockbuster series in Australia from Jan 12 - Feb 2. Learn about the remarkable 90-year history at the Women's Ashes Hub