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The ignominy of a 16-0 clean sweep moved ever closer on the second day at the MCG, where Annabel Sutherland struck 163 to guide her side to 422 for five – a lead of 252. But for all of Sutherland’s brilliance in scoring her third century in just six Test caps, or Beth Mooney’s in following up with 98 not out, England were their own worst enemy as a failure to do the basics cost them dear. Annabel Sutherland.
Take a bow 🙌 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/dhqLFGe2Qm — cricket.
com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2025 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones, Sophie Ecclestone (twice), Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Maia Bouchier and Lauren Filer were all guilty of fumbling chances – some easier than others – to make life simple for their rivals. Elsewhere, regulation ground fielding and a couple of difficult half-chances added to the woe as the hosts piled on 366 across three sessions.
England’s underpowered first-innings total of 170 left them vulnerable and in need of quick breakthroughs but the disappointment started early. Ecclestone twice came close to ending Sutherland’s stay long before it transformed into its ultimate triumph. She had just 29 when she threaded a chance to Wyatt-Hodge at point but one of the more reliable pair of hands in the team set the tone for handling errors as she failed to hang on.
Ecclestone came again in the next over, clipping the outside edge with a beauty only for Jones to let a sharp, low chance evade her behind the stumps. As if to add insult to injury just a few balls later, Sutherland launched Ecclestone over long-off for the first six of the match. Lauren Bell’s introduction brought some respite, Phoebe Litchfield nicking behind for 45 after surviving a couple of false shots.
Captain Heather Knight squandered a review trying to get Alyssa Healy given lbw off the bat and at the end of the session the hosts had moved to 154 for two, with Sutherland the anchor on 71. The scores were level early in the evening, with just 60 overs down, but after bowling unchanged in a luckless two-hour spell in the afternoon Ecclestone snapped up Healy at the start of her second. She was given lbw despite believing an inside edge had saved her, clearly unhappy as she made for the pavilion.
If that was a minor setback for Australia, then the major ones just kept racking up in the English ranks. First Ashes wicket feeling 🤩 Ryana Macdonald-Gay dismisses Annabel Sutherland, who departs for an impressive 163. pic.
twitter.com/yzAkucYbmm — England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 31, 2025 MacDonald-Gay and Ecclestone both got the best of Mooney while she was just getting started but conspired to grass the chances off each other’s bowling. The frustration was written all over England’s faces but things were about to get even worse, as Mooney carved the simplest possible catch to gully.
Bouchier could not have asked for a better chance, looping through at waist height, but juggled it to the floor. Having now been spared on eight, 11 and 18, Mooney followed Sutherland lead by cashing in to the full. Sutherland was on 99 when that fifth drop went down and soon took the acclaim as she lashed a short ball from the tiring Ecclestone for four.
It was a special moment for her and a galling one for her opponents, who soon were soon cursing a comically bad misfield from Filer. The second new ball brought no respite, leaking 33 runs from four overs before the second break. Sutherland’s merciless five-and-a-half-hour stay finally came to an end under the floodlights, MacDonald-Gay taking her fielders out of the equation by seaming one back past the outside edge and into off stump.
The lead had already grown to 154 by that point and any sense of relief expired as Ecclestone committed another grievous error at slip, fumbling Ashleigh Gardner off MacDonald-Gay. Sophia Dunkley got in on the act as she allowed a gentle pull to squeeze through her dive for four at fine leg and Filer could only get her fingertips to a leading edge that Gardner popped back at the seamer late in the day. Mooney ended agonisingly close to a maiden century but will get her chance on day three before a likely declaration.
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