Former England captain Charlotte Edwards believes Alice Capsey’s “amazing” match-winning knock at Lord’s against Australia embodies the fearlessness of England in the Women’s Ashes.
Teenager Capsey fired 46 from 23 balls to see England to a first T20 series win over Australia since 2017 and keep their Ashes hopes alive, with Heather Knight’s side now trailing the tourists 6-4 in the multi-format series.
Coming into the third and final IT20, Capsey was under pressure having scored just 17 runs in her previous five T20 innings but the 18-year-old starred at the Home of Cricket in a player-of-the-match display that earned praise from Edwards.
She told Sky Sports: “Alice Capsey was amazing. This is what she does. The younger talent in this England side, they’ve got no fear, they aren’t fazed.
“We’ve got to remember, Alice Capsey has played in two Lord’s finals [in The Hundred], so tonight was just another day for her. It prepares her to play at these venues and to perform at this level.
“But still, to come out on the biggest of stages, after the run of form she’s had, it’s unbelievable from an 18-year-old girl.
“Everyone was saying, ‘She’s only scored 17 runs in her last five innings’, but then provides that kind of innings.
“There’s so many girls now wanting to play cricket and watching it tonight, thinking, ‘I want to be the next Alice Capsey’.”
Edwards: It’s been a brilliant series
Danielle Gibson hit the winning runs as England beat Australia by five wickets (DLS) in the 3rd T20 at Lord’s
The teenager’s performance came in front of a new record attendance for a women’s bilateral fixture in England, with a crowd of 21,610 at Lord’s.
The remaining three one-day internationals to conclude the series, starting on Wednesday at Bristol, are all sold-out with England still in the hunt to regain the Ashes.
“Everyone said after The Oval [England winning the second IT20] that Australia will come back, they’ll be hurt, they’ll be back to normal,” Edwards said.
“They were back to normal tonight, but England still beat them. And that’s the biggest compliment you can give this team – they’ve done it back to back, and in front of 20,000 people.
“The crowd were amazing. I think everyone wanted England to win, so that we go to Bristol with the Ashes still alive.
“We’re getting full houses in to watch these games. You don’t want it to end really. It has been unbelievable, a brilliant series.”
Knight: Capsey innings ‘top drawer’ | ‘Ashes still alive’
Reaction from both captains after England clinched victory in the 3rd T20 against Australia at Lord’s
England captain, Heather Knight:
“For Caps [Alice Capsey], after two low-scoring innings, for her to come out and play like that, with the confidence she showed, it was top drawer.”
“It’s really important how we’ve gone about it in the last two games that we haven’t looked too far ahead. The way we performed tonight was brilliant.
“There’s a lot of belief in that side. Onto the ODIs. There’s still a long way to go, there’s not much room for error but one game at a time.”
Player of the Match, Alice Capsey:
Reaction from Alice Capsey after she hit 46 in England’s T20 win over Australia at Lord’s
“It has been unbelievable. The series is still alive, which is amazing. It was a great performance.
“T20 cricket, especially the way I play, sometimes I’m going to come off and sometimes I won’t.
“It’s just about getting better and trying to become more consistent at it. I’ve been working hard in the nets and been given a lot of backing by the coaching staff.”
Healy: England out-braved us
Australia captain, Alyssa Healy:
“England out-braved us and batted really well. They played some fearless cricket and got themselves over the line.
“That’s the beauty of the T20 format. When you’re not quite on, you can get pounced upon by teams.
“England have played a really great style of cricket throughout the series and we didn’t quite match that.
“Fortunately, we’ve still got three games of this Ashes series to pick ourselves up. We go into the one-day format, which we absolutely love.”
What’s next?
Live Women's Ashes
Wednesday 12th July 12:30pm
The multi-format series now switches to the three-match ODI series, starting with the opening game at Bristol, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 12.30pm on Wednesday, with play starting at 1pm.
The two teams will then head to The Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Sunday, July 16 (11am start) and Taunton for the final game of the series on Tuesday, July 18 (1pm start).
Women’s Ashes schedule (all games live on Sky Sports)
Watch the first ODI of the multi-format Women’s Ashes between England and Australia on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 12.30pm, ahead of the first ball at 1pm. Stream this summer’s men’s and women’s Ashes series on NOW
