Australia regained the women’s Ashes with a 20-run victory over England in the second Twenty20 international in Hove on Friday.
Victory gave the visitors an unbeatable 10-4 points lead in the multi-format series, which is to conclude with a dead rubber Twenty20 in Cardiff tomorrow.
England captain Charlotte Edwards elected to field after winning the toss and then saw her side restrict Australia to a seemingly meagre 107-7 in 20 overs.
However, England in reply collapsed to 87 all out — their lowest score in a Twenty20 international — with recalled seamer Rene Farrell taking 3-17 to win the player-of-the-match award.
Ellyse Perry and Farrell both took two wickets in an over as England slumped to 28-5 after their six-over power play.
Experienced England batters Edwards and Sarah Taylor both fell for eight and the hosts never recovered from seeing two of their best players fall so cheaply.
Australia, the reigning 50-over and Twenty20 world champions, had previously won the one-off Test and two of the three one-day internationals.
England knew they needed to win all three Twenty20 matches to level the overall score at 8-8 and so retain the Ashes by virtue of holding them prior to this series.
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