England captain Heather Knight hailed an “awesome” batting display by Alice Capsey after her blistering 46 helped secure a five-wicket victory over Australia in a rain-hit final T20 international at Lord’s to keep alive hopes of regaining the Ashes.
Capsey had made just 17 runs in her last five England innings, but the 18-year-old returned to form to lead England’s revised run chase of 119 in 14 overs after Australia had been restricted to 155 for seven before a rain delay at the interval.
“Alice Capsey was awesome,” Knight said on BBC Test Match Special.
“She probably hasn’t played how she wanted to in the first two (games), but to play like that and take the game on is exactly how we want her to play so I’m really pleased for her.”
Having pulled off a three-run win in a thrilling finale at the Oval on Wednesday, England’s victory saw them take the T20 series 2-1 and reduce the multi-format deficit to 6-4 ahead of the deciding one-day internationals, which start at Bristol on Wednesday.
“We talked yesterday about wanting a series win in the T20s and I’m really proud of the girls and the way we went about it,” Knight said.
“The really pleasing thing is that, when someone doesn’t have a great day, someone else is standing up and we’re able to have a real team performance.”
The Lord’s crowd of 21,610 broke the home bilateral attendance record for an England women’s fixture.
The series could now go the distance, which had looked unlikely after England’s defeat in the Test at Trent Bridge and the opening T20 at Edgbaston.
“The support has been so good, we’ve loved it,” said Knight, captain of London Spirit, who play their Hundred games at Lord’s.
“It is credit to both teams the cricket that has been played and to get people out and momentum behind the series. There is still a long way to go.
“The way we’ve fought back in this series has been really pleasing. We’ve felt like we’re not far away and once we’d got that win it felt like we’d got over that hurdle a little bit. Hopefully we can keep that going.”
Capsey, named player of the match, is in no doubt England can keep the pressure on in the ODIs.
“It has been unbelievable. The series is still alive, which is amazing. It was a great performance,” Capsey said on Sky Sports Cricket.
“It was just about playing to our strengths and putting the Aussies under pressure. T20 cricket, especially the way I play, sometimes I’m going to come off and sometimes I won’t.
“It’s just about getting better and trying to become more consistent at it. I’ve been working hard in the nets and been given a lot of backing by the coaching staff.”
A second consecutive defeat saw Australia beaten in a series for first time since 2017.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy, who was trapped lbw by Charlie Dean for 16 in the fourth over, admitted her side paid the price for another below-par display.
“They played a really good innings. They outbraved us and batted really well,” she said to Sky Sports.
“They played a few shots and took their chances. They played some fearless cricket and got themselves over the line.
“That’s the beauty of the T20 format. When you’re not quite on, you can get pounced upon by teams.
“England have played a really great style of cricket throughout the series and we didn’t quite match that.
“Fortunately, we’ve still got three games of this Ashes series to pick ourselves up. We go into the one-day format, which we absolutely love.”
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
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