Sydney: England got off to a promising start on day one of their Women’s Ashes Test against Australia before the hosts powered back after sundown.
The visitors were ticking along at 129-1 but fell to 235-7 at close of play in the first women’s day-night Test.
Tammy Beaumont (70) and skipper Heather Knight (62) were the standout figures as they shared a partnership of 104 for the second wicket.
With Australia looking to claim the Ashes with victory in the only Test, they showed why they are leading 4-2 in the multi-format tournament after the lights came on.
With England sitting comfortably when the new ball was introduced for the final session, Ellyse Perry struck to remove Sarah Taylor and Georgia Elwiss in successive overs. Tahlia McGrath then accounted for Katherine Brunt before close of play.
England won the toss and went with a strong batting line-up but started slowly, with Lauren Winfield making only four runs of 56 deliveries.
They were 25-1 after 18 overs when Winfield walked, allowing Knight to enter the fray and put on an impressive stand with Beaumont.
Both batters were enjoying facing the spinners of Australia before Beaumont edged Amanda-Jade Wellington to slip and Knight was out lbw.
England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor told BBC Test Match Special: “The game’s literally in the balance now. A couple of wickets cost us, so we’ve got to push on in the morning. It’s getting more difficult to bat — credit to our batsmen for putting a total on the board.
“[The pink ball] didn’t behave too badly — it didn’t misbehave and there wasn’t as much swing as I thought there would be. I enjoyed the experience.”
Australia captain Rachael Haynes was happy with her side’s work on day one.
“It was a really good fightback from our bowling group, and nice to finish off with a couple of wickets,” she told TMS.
“We know tomorrow’s a good time to bat so we want to get a couple of wickets and get out there. It’s a good batting track — you’ve got to get over 300 here in the first innings — but the game can change really quickly.”
