Women's Ashes: The story of the 2015 multi-format series
Sunday 15 October 2017 14:18, UK
Australia secured their first Women's Ashes victory in England in 14 years, winning the multi-format series 10-6 back when the two sides last met in 2015.
It was the third time the multi-format series, which features three one-dayers, a Test and three Twenty20 matches, was used with England the holders of the urn after winning 10-8 on points down under in 2014.
Here's the story of the 2015 series…
One-day Internationals
First ODI (Taunton) - England Women beat Australia Women by four wickets
Charlotte Edwards' side made the perfect start to their bid to retain the Ashes, chasing down 238 in Taunton.
Australia reached 238-9 thanks to Ellyse Perry's 78 but half-centuries from Lydia Greenway (53) and Nat Sciver (66) in a partnership of 122 saw England recover from 80-4 to win with 26 balls remaining to move 2-0 up on points in the series.
Second ODI (Bristol) - Australia Women beat England Women by 63 runs
Australia needed an immediate response and got one through captain Meg Lanning (104) as she hit her sixth ODI hundred to lead her side to a commanding total of 259-6.
England's chase started in excellent fashion with Edwards and Heather Knight taking the total to 92, but Lanning was back in the action, running out Knight in fine style as Australia picked up their first breakthrough.
Sarah Taylor joined Edwards at the crease and another 30 was added to the total before England's chase fizzled out, losing 9-74 in 18 overs as the Aussies won by 63 runs to level up the series at 2-2.
Third ODI (New Road) - Australia Women beat England Women by 89 runs
A superb all-round performance from Perry inspired Australia to an 89-run win at New Road and a 2-1 victory in the ODI part of the series.
Perry hit an excellent 67 off 58 balls as part of an 85-run fourth-wicket stand with Lanning, who failed to make it back-to-back hundreds with 85 off 89 deliveries.
With a total of 241 on the board, Perry then grabbed the wickets of Edwards and Taylor as England fell to a comprehensive defeat.
Test Match
Test (Canterbury) - Australia Women beat England Women by 161 runs
With the series evenly poised at 4-2 after the one-day internationals, the teams moved onto Canterbury for the only Test match of the multi-format series.
With four points on offer for a Test win, Australia won a crucial toss and racked up 274/9 declared largely thanks to Jess Jonassen's 99.
Megan Schutt (4-26) and Perry (3-38) did most of the damage as England were bowled out for 168, leaving the Aussies with a 106-run first-innings lead.
Jonassen top-scored again for the Aussies in their second innings and she was ably supported by Alex Blackwell's 47 not out as they scored 156-6 to leave England needing a world record 263 for victory.
England failed to get close as Edwards' side were skittled for 101 on the final day in Canterbury with Perry picking up Test-best figures of 6-32 as Australia moved into a commanding 8-2 series lead.
T20 Internationals
First T20I (Chelmsford) - England Women beat Australia Women by seven wickets
The series concluded with three NatWest International T20 matches - and England needed to win all of them to retain the urn.
They made the perfect start with Taylor, who shared a 77-run partnership with Edwards, hitting a half-century as England chased down Australia's score of 122-8 with 15 balls to spare to keep the series alive.
Second T20I (Hove) - Australia Women beat England Women by 20 runs
Both teams moved on to Hove with England still needing two wins to draw the series and retain the Ashes, and they were in the match at the halfway stage, restricting the Aussies to 107-7 after sending them in to bat.
However, in what was a low-scoring game, a ruthless bowling display from the tourists - spearheaded by Rene Farrell (3-17) - saw England bowled out for 87 as Australia secured their first Women's Ashes victory in England in 14 years.
Third T20I (Cardiff) - England Women beat Australia Women by five wickets
Australia were in an unassailable 10-4 lead before the final game in Cardiff, where England produced the kind of run chase they needed three days earlier to grab a consolation win.
Anya Shrubsole set the tone for England with the ball as her spell of 4-11 in four overs reduced Australia to 25-4, and they never recovered.
A stand of 36 from 23 balls between Alyssa Healy and Grace Harris helped the Aussies reach 111 from their 20 overs, but it was never enough as Nat Sciver's 47 guided England to a five-wicket win as they ended the series on a high note.
