England succumbed to a five-wicket defeat to rivals Australia in their first T20 World Cup warm-up game in Cardiff.
Inserted after losing the toss, England slumped to 19-3, with captain Nat Sciver-Brunt scoring three on her return to the side after Danni Wyatt-Hodge (4) and Amy Jones (2) were dismissed.
England were indebted to Alice Capsey (45 off 36 balls) and Freya Kemp (41 off 27 balls) for salvaging a score of 157-6 from 20 overs, but it proved well short against a stacked Australian batting line-up.
A 51-run first-wicket stand between Beth Mooney (43 off 24) and Georgia Voll, and Ellyse Perry’s 64 off 44 moved Australia to the cusp of victory before Tahlia McGrath hit the winning runs with 10 balls to spare.
England return to Sophia Gardens to face India in their final T20 World Cup warm-up on Wednesday before kicking off the tournament against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on Friday, live on Sky Sports.
World Cup warm-up defeat for England against Australia
England found themselves three wickets down just 25 balls into their innings with the bat after being inserted by Australia.
Wyatt-Hodge sparked the top-order collapse when her middle stump was uprooted by Kim Garth in the second over, with England’s other opener, Jones, falling in the next when she chipped to McGrath off Megan Schutt.
That brought Sciver-Brunt to the crease, but the England captain’s comeback would last just seven balls before she was clean bowled by Alana King’s first delivery.
Capsey and Knight, six days on from their match-winning heroics against India in Taunton, steadied the England ship with a 54-run stand for the fourth wicket.
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Nat Sciver-Brunt lasts just seven balls on return from injury as the England captain is bowled in the World Cup warm-up match against Australia.
That partnership ended when Knight found the hands of McGrath at backward point while attempting a reverse sweep off King.
The big-hitting Freya Kemp proved a more than able deputy alongside Capsey, who fell five runs short of a half-century to a dubious lbw decision off Schutt, the ball striking her pad after she had ventured way down the wicket.
Kemp and Dani Gibson ensured Capsey’s departure did not derail England, adding fifty for the sixth wicket to help post a respectable total before Kemp fell to Sutherland in the final over.
Australia’s openers extinguished any hope of an England victory by accumulating a third of the required runs before Voll nicked behind off Lauren Filer’s final ball of the powerplay.
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Watch the best shots from Alice Capsey’s innings against Australia in the World Cup warm-up match in Cardiff.
Capsey followed her heroics with the bat by bowling Mooney, who fell seven runs short of her half-century, but that only spurred Perry on further.
More than 50 per cent of Perry’s runs came from boundaries as she struck nine fours to move Australia into a winning position that not even the loss of Ash Gardner to Lauren Bell and Grace Harris to Sophie Ecclestone in the space of four balls could derail.
Perry was denied the chance to seal victory when she fell to a superb Gibson catch on the boundary, leaving McGrath to scramble a game-clinching two.
Nat Sciver-Brunt is bowled by Alana King during England’s T20 World Cup warm-up defeat against Australia in Cardiff
Sciver-Brunt pleased by fightback with bat
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt:
“We didn’t have the best of starts with the bat but we had some brilliant partnerships to get us a great score.
“That set up a platform for Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson to come in and accelerate towards the end. From where we were, we got a great score.
“Alice Capsey seems really clear with what she wants to do and how she wants to go about it. She really committed to her shots.
“The rest of us can learn a bit from her – but hopefully she doesn’t waste her runs in the warm-up games! It is great to have people in form.
“Kemp can be so explosive with the bat and offers that all-round performance. She can affect the game from anywhere.”
Freya Kemp’s 41 from 27 balls helped England set Australia 158 for victory
Plenty of positives for Australia
Australia captain Sophie Molineux:
“It was very pleasing from all three aspects of the game.
“The girls did well, there was heaps of energy, a few different combinations with the ball, the spinners got into the game and Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney took the game on with the bat.
“There were lots of positives.”
England’s Women’s T20 World Cup fixtures
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Friday June 12: England vs Sri Lanka, Edgbaston 6.30pmTuesday June 16: England vs Ireland, Hampshire Bowl 6.30pmSaturday June 20: England vs Scotland, Headingley 6.30pmWednesday June 24: England vs West Indies, Lord’s 6.30pmSaturday June 27: England vs New Zealand, The Oval 6.30pm
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