Australia stay unbeaten to complete Ashes rout

Annabel Sutherland returned figures of 4 for 31 in the series final. © Getty
England's tumultuous run finished with a whimper in the Women's Ashes as they went down by eight wickets in the final ODI after posting just 163. Tammy Beaumont made 50, Natalie Sciver got 46 but the batters succumbed to the excellence of Annabel Sutherland (4 for 31). Australia polished off the chase in 36.2 overs to complete their unbeaten Ashes triumph.

After opting to bat, England lost Emma Lamb for a duck in the second over and made a slow start. When Heather Knight was dismissed in the ninth over, the visitors had just 18 runs on the board. That's when Sciver and Beaumont got together to steady the ship a bit. They made 88 but chewed out 152 deliveries, with both batters eventually scoring at a strike rate of less than 50.

As Australia controlled the flow of runs, the pressure continued to mount and the innings just crumbled once Beaumont fell in the 35th over. England went from being 107 for 2 to 139 for 8 before Charlotte Dean made an unbeaten 18 to take the innings to till the last over. Megan Schutt bagged 2 for 25 while Alana King and Jess Jonassen got a wicket each.

A below par total was never going to be enough to challenge Australia. Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes started the chase with a stand of 74 in 16 overs before the former was dismissed by Freya Davies. Six deliveries later, Haynes too was dismissed, but England failed to build any pressure despite the little opening.

Meg Lanning struck a half-century and with Ellyse Perry, eased the side home with an unbeaten stand of 90. Even as England head to New Zealand for the defence of their World Cup crown with lots of question marks around their batting, they can can take heart from their bowling performances. Sophie Ecclestone impressed in the final ODI with figures of 10-2-18-1.

Australia ended the Ashes leading England 12-4 with wins in the opening T20I and all three ODIs. Two T20Is were washed out while the one-off Test was drawn.

Brief scores:England 163 in 49.3 overs (Tammy Beaumont 50; Annabel Sutherland 4-31) lost to Australia 164/2 in 36.2 overs (Meg Lanning 57*) by eight wickets.