Four wickets within the first innings was adopted up by eight within the second, to complete with match figures of 12 for 165, the second finest in girls’s Test historical past.
England entered in the present day as underdogs, however with a stage of hope that grew after Danni Wyatt, who was finally out for 54, and Kate Cross bought them off to a shiny begin, scoring 22 runs off the primary 4 overs.
It was all the time going to be unlikely that England would chase down Australia’s 268 after final night time’s top-order collapse, however because the runs ticked down and with 5 wickets nonetheless remaining, the house staff dared to dream.
But Gardner had different concepts. And having taken the wickets of first-innings double-centurion Tammy Beaumont, in addition to Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt late on day 4, she then added Kate Cross and Amy Jones to her checklist of victims in a gap 40 minutes of play that additional dragged the sport Australia’s means.
It was Cross who departed first for 11, edging behind to captain Alyssa Healy who took an excellent catch. That wicket introduced Jones to the crease, with Australia focusing on England’s wicketkeeper and bringing all of the fielders as much as crowd her for room and hold her on zero.
It wasn’t till Jones’ 14th supply that she discovered a boundary to get her off the mark. However, any suggestion that that had settled the nerves have been quick lived because the very subsequent ball she was stumped after she charged and missed a Gardner supply. Wicketkeeper Healy fumbled the ball on the first try however, a lot to everybody’s shock, replays confirmed she had eliminated the bails within the nick of time earlier than Jones made it dwelling. In disbelief, Jones needed to drag herself off and Gardner had a maiden five-wicket haul.
That wicket introduced bowling hero Ecclestone to the crease, who while no slouch with the bat, can also be no specialist. Ecclestone had already carried out her fair proportion of miracles this Test, however now England wanted yet another.
She and Wyatt batted for ten overs collectively at a much more watchful price. Wyatt was, realistically, England’s final hope, however even her pure attacking instincts have been being reined in as Australia unfold the sphere to chop off her boundaries and bowl solely to Ecclestone on the different finish.
But simply as England threatened to be getting their ft beneath the desk and settle in for the lengthy haul, it was throughout, as their closing three wickets all fell to Gardner within the house of three overs. First, Ecclestone was trapped LBW after Gardner, coming across the wicket, bought one to pitch in line and straighten, earlier than Lauren Filer was bowled and Wyatt went LBW going for a heroic heave.
A incredible efficiency from Gardner capped off a deserved win for Australia, who regardless of being challenged to the very finish by a spirited England facet, in the end got here out on prime.
The win implies that Australia go 4-0 up within the multi-format Ashes sequence, with three ODIs and three T20s remaining, all of that are price two factors every. With Australia the reigning champions, England now face a mountainous problem to regain the urn, as they’ll need to win 5 of the six white-ball matches to topple an Australia facet who’ve misplaced simply eight of their earlier 110 restricted overs matches.
