Greenway hooked a full toss straight to midwicket before Sciver found mid-off with 22 runs required to win.
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Australia scented blood but Greenway and Sciver’s combination helped England towards victory. Although their run rate had remained above Australia’s from the outset, by the time Sciver had joined Greenway out at the middle England were four wickets down for just 80, with 30 overs still to see out.
In the ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Bowlers, the top 10 features England pair Katherine Brunt (third), who will be aiming to reduce the seven-point deficit on West Indies star Anisa Mohammed, and Jenny Gunn (fifth).
Blackwell and Perry put on a stand of 121 that saw both post fifties – Perry’s her sixth in as many one-day internationals.
England captain Charlotte Edwards: “We talked about starting the series well, we haven’t always done that in the past but we started brilliantly with the ball and our fielding was outstanding at times”.
“We were concerned at one stage because they seemed to be cruising at the drinks break and we obviously needed to change something”. “We’ve done it as perfectly as we could have today. It would have been nice to have been there at the end but it was brilliant that Georgia and Katherine could finish it for us”.
Leading by example, the 23-year-old Victorian produced a batting master-class in front of an enthusiastic audience of more than 3,100, raising a brilliant 104 from 98 balls to propel the tourists to a competitive total from their 50 overs.
Player of the match Sciver added: “It was up to me and Lyds to stick to our strengths and rebuild”. Meanwhile Perry said: “The conditions were really tough because the outfield was so incredibly quick”. The multi-format series has been a great success and we are looking forward to another competitive series against England and will be doing everything in our power to win back the Women’s Ashes.
“Their ability to hit the stumps a couple of times with some crucial run-out was one of the differences of the game, amongst a few probably”, Perry said.
And Sciver’s 75-ball innings ensured they got off to the best possible start against the holders of the World T20 and World Cup. England have entered the Ashes having come off a 5-3 series victory in New Zealand in February.
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Knight said afterwards: “Wickets cost us, throughout our innings”. “I think in the last two series we have played, there have been contributions from everyone all over the squad”.
