2nd ODI – Australia v England
Junction Oval, Melbourne, 14 January
Australia 180 (44.3) beat England 159 (48.1) by 21 runs
video scorecard | video highlights
4 – After a dramatic victory in the 2nd ODI at Junction Oval, Australia have taken a 4-0 points lead in the multi-format Women’s Ashes, and are already halfway to retaining the trophy. England now have to take ten of the remaining twelve points on offer in the last five games (one ODI, three T20Is and a Test) to regain the Ashes, while Australia need just four more points to retain possession.
9 – Australia have won all nine of the completed ODIs they have played at Junction Oval. The only ground at which they have won more ODIs without recording a single defeat is Brisbane’s Allan Border Field (played 20, won 20).
38 – This victory ensured that Australia maintained their extraordinary record in bilateral ODI series on home soil. They have now won seven of the eight bilateral series they have hosted in the format against England (with England’s best showing a 2-2 draw in 2008). Australia’s one and only series defeat against any side at home remains a 2-1 loss to New Zealand in the 1987 edition of the Rose Bowl. Overall, Australia have recorded an incredible 38 series victories from 40 attempts at home.
Australia women bilateral ODI series results at home
- 38 series wins
- 1 drawn series (2-2 v England, 2008)
- 1 series defeat (2-1 v New Zealand, 1987)
180 – Things had looked bleak for the hosts at the innings break. This was the first time since 2019 that Australia women had been bowled out in the 1st innings of a home ODI, and the first time since 2009 that they had failed to reach 200 when batting 1st in a 50-over game on home soil.
8 – In slumping from 131/2 to 180 all out, Australia suffered their heaviest 3rd to 10th wicket collapse in an ODI since 2004 (8/49), and their worst at home since 1996.
2006 – In a chaotic 2nd innings turnaround however, Australia found their way to a remarkable victory. This was the lowest total Australia have successfully defended in a home ODI since beating India by 12 runs after making 173 at Adelaide in 2006.
The last time England women failed to chase down a target of 181 or lower in an ODI was in pursuit of 170 against India at Lord’s in 2022. The last time they came up short chasing such a target against Australia was in an even more hectic encounter at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai during the Super Six stage of 2013 World Cup. On that occasion, England lost by just two runs after bowling Australia out for 147.
4/25 – Player of the match, Alana King took her new best figures in the format (10-0-25-4). King’s analysis was the second best by an Australian women’s legspinner in a home ODI, and the best for 28 years:
- 4-11 Olivia Magno v PAK, Wesley Cricket Ground, 1997
- 4-25 Alana King v ENG, Junction Oval, 2025
- 4-26 Alana King v SA, North Sydney, 2024
- 3-16 Alana King v WI, Junction Oval, 2023
- 3-19 Alana King v SA, Adelaide Oval, 2024
53 – By the end of her innings, King had overtaken Olivia Magno to become Australia’s women’s most prolific legspin bowler in the format:
- 53 Alana King (34 innings)
- 51 Olivia Magno (42 innings)
- 43 Georgia Wareham (36 innings)
- 42 Kristen Beams (30 innings)
34 – Taking just 34 innings to reach the milestone, King also became the joint third fastest Australian woman to bring up fifty career wickets in ODIs:
- 27 Lyn Fullston
- 29 Charmaine Mason
- 34 Cathryn Fitzpatrick; Alana King
- 36 Sarah Andrews; Ellyse Perry
King wasn’t the only spinner to thrive at the Junction. In the 1st innings, Sophie Ecclestone took the best ODI figures by an English woman against Australia, and the best away from home:
- 5-18 Katherine Sciver-Brunt at Wormsley, 2011
- 5-30 Gill Smith at Guildford, 1993
- 4-35 Sophie Ecclestone at Junction Oval, 2025
- 4-47 Steph Davies at Sydney, 2008
17.45 – While she has long been rated the #1 bowler in the world, one blot on Ecclestone’s copybook had been her record against Australia, but she has begun to rectify that in recent years.
In her first ten ODIs against Australia between 2017-22, Ecclestone took just nine wickets at an average of 48.77 and an economy of 4.65 rpo. Since the start of 2023 however, Ecclestone has taken eleven wickets in five ODIs against the world champions, at an average of 17.45 and an ER of 4.08 rpo.
18.67 – Among active international players with 50+ career wickets in the format, King (18.67) and Ecclestone (19.40) respectively have the best and second best bowling averages in women’s ODIs.
3 – Alice Capsey bowled for the first time in the series, and finished with her career best ODI figures (7-2-22-3)
12 – The twelve wickets taken by spinners at Junction Oval (England 7, Australia 5) were the joint most for a women’s ODI played in Australia, alongside the match between Australia (6) and West Indies (6) at Hurstville Oval in 2014.
32 – Kim Garth (10-0-37-3) produced another telling display, dismissing both openers with new ball, before returning to spark England’s terminal collapse (120/5 to 159 all out) by breaking the Capsey-Jones partnership later on.
Since her move down under, Garth has been Australia’s most economical bowler in ODIs (3.64 rpo), and has the most wickets by any seam bowler in the format (32).
Garth’s 32 wickets for Australia have come in 21 matches at an average of 16.25, compared with 23 wickets in 34 matches for Ireland at an average of 33.91.
5 – England have now been bowled out in the last five Women’s Ashes ODIs they have played in Australia.
60 – In a low-scoring match in which twenty wickets fell, Ellyse Perry was the standout with the bat. This was the fourth time in her ODI career that Perry has scored 50+ runs in a match where no other player reached fifty:
- 56 v South Africa at Coffs Harbour
- 70 v England at Bristol 2017
- 107* v New Zealand at Karen Rolton Oval, 2019
- 60 v England at Junction Oval Melbourne 2025
38 – Perry’s thirty-eight scores of fifty or more in ODIs are the second most by an Australian woman in the format:
- 41 Karen Rolton (132 innings)
- 38 Ellyse Perry (127 innings)
- 26 Meg Lanning (102 innings)
- 35 Belinda Clark (114 innings)
Mithali Raj (69) and Karen Rolton (41) are the only players from all nations to make more 50+ scores than Perry (38) when not opening the batting in ODIs.
10 – Ten of Perry’s half-centuries in the format have been made against England, the third most by any woman:
- 20 Mithali Raj IND (54 innings)
- 11 Lisa Keightley AUS (18 innings)
- 10 Ellyse Perry AUS (33 innings)
11 – Perry has now made at least one 50+ score in ODIs in each of the last eleven calendar years. This sequence began with a score of 65* against England in the Women’s Ashes match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in January 2014.
1,123 – Perry’s innings also saw her move up to second for most ODI career runs against England women, overtaking the tally of 1,113 by New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite. The outright record is something that may be beyond even Perry’s abilities however, with India’s Mithali Raj still way out in front with 2,005.
Stats derived from ESPNcricinfo statsguru.
