Australia want to inflict more misery on England and seal a stunning series whitewash after retaining the Women’s Ashes at the earliest possible opportunity.
The hosts’ 57-run victory in the first T20 at the Sydney Cricket Ground saw Australia take an unassailable 8-0 lead in the multi-format series.
Four successive defeats means even if England win the remaining two T20s and one-off Test match they can only draw the series 8-8.
Australia have held the urn in women’s cricket since 2015 and have no intention of taking their foot off the gas with a chance to whitewash the old enemy.
‘The girls are pretty pumped, but the job’s not done, we want to win it outright,’ spinner Georgia Wareham said after taking three wickets in the T20 win.
Asked if Australia were targeting a series whitewash, she added: ‘That would be great! We always strive to keep on winning games.’
Opener Beth Mooney inspired Australia’s latest victory over England, hitting 75 from 51 balls as the hosts piled on 198-7.
Sophia Dunkley smashed 59 from 30 in England’s reply but the tourists collapsed from 96-3 at the halfway stage to be bowled out for 141 in the 16th over.
England captain Heather Knight said: ‘I thought it was an outstanding innings by Beth Mooney. She makes it really hard for the bowlers to execute.
‘We gave them 20-30 too many runs, if we’d conceded less we’d have been in with a real chance.
‘We felt like we were in it, Sophia Dunkley’s innings was really smart. She was outstanding, played with freedom. But in the end it was a frustrating today.’
Knight has been at the helm since 2016 but England’s poor performances Down Under has prompted scrutiny over her position as captain.
But Dunkley insists England are ‘100 per cent’ behind Knight and hopes the tourists can save some face before leaving Australia.
‘Look, I think we just back Heather 100 per cent to lead us out there,’ the 26-year-old said.
‘She’s done the job amazingly for the last… I don’t know how long it is but it’s been for a long time.
‘She’s a massive part of our changing room, a massive leader and I back her 100 per cent to help turn this team around.
‘All we can do is stick together now and fight as hard as we can for the last three games and absolutely back her 100 per cent as our captain.
‘I’m sure she can bring the best out of us in the last couple of games, for sure.’
Speaking to TNT Sports shortly after England’s latest defeat, Dunkley added: ‘I think we’re just really disappointed, we wanted to bring a lot of energy and we fell quite short.
‘I wanted to go out there and give it my best shot and put the pressure on Australia. We can still draw the Ashes, it’s not completely gone, so we’ll focus on that.
‘We’ve got to keep bringing that positive energy, there were moments when we played really well and we’ve just got to keep them going for longer.’
The second of three T20s takes place in Canberra on Thursday. The Melbourne Cricket Ground hosts the one-off Women’s Ashes Test from January 30 to February 2.
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