Englands hopes of regaining Womens Ashes on the ropes after successive defeats in Australia; Heather Knights side travel to Hobart for final ODI in desperate need of victory to transform their fortunes in the multi-format series;

England's hopes of levelling the Women's Ashes slipped away at the Junction Oval in Melbourne as they fell short of chasing 181 in a thrilling finish.

There is a striking difference between England’s and Australia’s XI – and that difference told as the hosts were the first to put points on the board in the 2025 Women’s Ashes when winning the opening one-day international by four wickets in Sydney.

Australia 180 (Perry 60, Ecclestone 4-35, Capsey 3-22) beat 159 England (Jones 47*, King 4-25, Garth 3-37) by 21 runs In front of a packed Shane Warne stand at the Junction Oval, Alana King produced an Ashes spell for the ages in the mould of her hero to inspire Australia to an extraordinary victory over England,

England will reflect on a missed opportunity as Australia strengthened their Ashes control with a second successive one-day international victory. Amy Jones, unbeaten on 47, failed to run from a free hit at the end of the 48th over,