Rowe makes England ODI debut but Australia win series

Despite falling to a series defeat, Kent stars Charlotte Edwards and Lydia Greenway shone for England women in their final two One-Day Internationals against Australia.

The three-match series was put out of the tourists reach by the second game as the Aussies moved into an unassailable lead in Perth. England batted first and a superb 90 from Edwards proved to be the main contribution as they posted an under-par 214 for eight from their 50 overs. Heather Knight“s 72 was the other main innings of note while Greenway made 16.

The hosts then cruised to victory by nine-wickets, with 51 balls to spare, largely thanks to a sparkling 104 not out by Meg Lanning. She put on 151 for the first wicket with Shelley Nitschke (70) as the Aussies secured the series win.

England did bounce back to claim a consolation victory in the third ODI, and again it was the Kent contingent who were the stars of the show. On this occasion Edwards and Greenway were joined by county team-mate Susie Rowe who was given her ODI bow at the WACA. Australia batted first and were restricted to 212 all-out from their allotted overs. Isa Guha took 2-40 as Greenway played her part in the field, executing two run-outs. Lisa Sthalekar made sixty for the hosts as they struggled to break free from the shackles applied by Edwards“s troops.

The tourists then proceeded to make light work of the run-chase. Greenway made a splendid 59 before Edwards saw her side home with an unbeaten 48 as England claimed a morale-boosting seven wicket victory with two overs to spare. Following her impressive performances in Australia, Edwards has risen to third in the ICC ODI women“s batting rankings.
The tour now moves to Adelaide and t20 mode where the old foes compete in five instalments of the fastest and most furious form of the game. The first is on Wednesday, directly before the men, and hopefully off-spinner James Tredwell can take centre-stage for the men at the Oval.

Picture:Kent and England’s Suie Rowe receives her cap from skipper Charlotte Edwards