Sophie Ecclestone claims 10-for in the match as Australia suffer their own collapse of four for 20 in their second innings; England 116-5, chasing 268 to win; watch day five at Trent Bridge on Monday, live on Sky Sports Cricket - coverage from 10.15am, play from 11am
Monday 26 June 2023 06:00, UK
England lost four wickets for 18 runs in a frantic evening session as Australia find themselves five wickets away from a series-opening win in the Women's Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.
England closed a hugely eventful fourth day on 116-5, still some 152 short of their victory target of 268. Earlier, Australia had too suffered a sizeable collapse either side of lunch to slip from 149-1 to 198-7 in their second innings.
Captain Alyssa Healy hit 50 hugely valuable runs to limit the damage somewhat, before Sophie Ecclestone (5-63) - who finished with 10-for in the match - wrapped up the innings for 257.
Despite their target being nearly 100 more than their previous record chase of 173, Tammy Beaumont - fresh from her double-hundred on day three - and Emma Lamb got the hosts off to a flying start, racing through to a fifty partnership inside nine overs, before the introduction of Ashleigh Gardner (3-33) turned the game.
Gardner claimed the key wicket of Beaumont (22), caught at slip, with her very first delivery immediately after the evening drinks break. It resulted in the rather bizarre situation in which the off-spinner was on a hat-trick after consecutive dismissals of Beaumont, with the first having ended England's first innings.
Tahlia McGrath (1-15) added Lamb (28) in the next over, before Gardner was then gifted Nat Sciver-Brunt's wicket without troubling the scorers as she skied an attempted slog-sweep and England captain Heather Knight (9) was pinned lbw.
Sophia Dunkley (16) and Danni Wyatt (20no) stubbornly resisted Australia's advances for just over 10 overs until the former fell in the final throes of the fourth day, nicking off to Kim Garth (1-21), who claimed her first Test wicket in the process.
Australia, opening the fourth morning looking to build on their overnight 92-run lead, were given a couple of early breaks by England in the field as both Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield were dropped.
Litchfield was put down when on 42 in the second over of the day - Kate Cross injuring the thumb on her non-bowling hand in the process - while Mooney was shelled on 55 by Sciver-Brunt off her own bowling, with her very first ball.
Cross (2-73) made amends for her error by bowling Litchfield soon after with a beauty that jagged in sharply from round the wicket - the left-hander shouldering arms - but Mooney and Ellyse Perry pushed Australia's lead beyond 150 before a superb Lauren Filer (2-49) intervention late in the morning session.
The England debutant - finally introduced into the attack for the 25th over of the morning - had an immediate impact, whipping up the crowd with her 70mph-plus bowling claiming the wickets of Perry (25) and McGrath (1) in back-to-back overs.
With her fourth ball, Perry chopped one back onto her stumps, while Filer then nearly cleaned up McGrath with a yorker two balls later before eventually beating her defences with another fuller one in her next over.
Filer's double-wicket burst saw England come out after lunch with an extra spring in their step, with Ecclestone ripping through the rest of the Australian batting order, while Cross bagged a second as the visitors lost four wickets for 20 runs.
Ecclestone first bowled Jess Jonassen (14), when attempting to sweep, before claiming the key wicket of Mooney (85), chopping one onto her stumps 15 short of a maiden Test ton.
Cross added Gardner (1), caught at slip, in the next over before first-innings centurion Annabel Sutherland (15) then lobbed an easy catch up to square-leg off Ecclestone where Wyatt - who had earlier dropped her on nought - made no mistake this time round.
Healy, who had demoted herself down to No 8 in the order after three-straight ducks in Test cricket, nearly bagged herself a double-pair as she nicked her very first ball, only for it to nutmeg Amy Jones, with the wicketkeeper stood up the stumps to Cross.
It was precisely the piece of good fortune the Aussie skipper needed and she soon settled into a nice rhythm and struck a flurry of boundaries to take the lead beyond 250 - her and Alana King (9) sharing in a 59-run partnership through tea.
King's wicket though - edging Lauren Bell (1-27) to slip - swiftly signalled the end of the innings as Healy next swatted an Ecclestone full toss straight to midwicket shortly after reaching fifty and Darcie Brown was pinned plumb in front later in the same over.
England's chase then got off to the perfect start with Brown firing four byes down the legside first ball, while the in-form Beaumont and Lamb were soon into their boundary-hitting stride themselves, racing through to a fifty stand.
But, just as with Australia's innings earlier, wickets fell in clusters and England's mid-session collapse of four for 18 is likely to ensure that the tourists open this multi-format series with a Test victory and earn four points towards retaining the Ashes.
Former England captain Charlotte Edwards:
"Tammy Beaumont was such a crucial wicket for Australia, having got 208 in the first innings.
"It seemed like a mad 20 minutes where they tried to be aggressive to Ash Gardner - Nat Sciver and Heather Knight were two key wickets, you could see how it lifted their side. Now there's a lot for England to do.
"They [Australia] have incredible belief within their group. That's what great teams have.
"They don't panic and they turn things around very, very quickly and now you'd say they're in pole position going into tomorrow on a wicket that favours the bowlers."
England spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who took 10-for in the match, speaking to Sky Sports:
"I'm a bit tired now but it's all worth it in the end. I'm actually buzzing, with my dad and brother in the crowd. It was a special moment for me.
"It's the beauty of Test cricket, to be honest. It's such a great format of the game and mad how things can change so fast.
"Hopefully we can put them under a bit of pressure tomorrow morning and go back at them.
"That would top it all off [hitting the winning runs].
Watch the fifth and final day of the Women's Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, live on Sky Sports Cricket on Monday, with coverage starting at 10.15am and play getting under way from 11am.
