AUS-W vs ENG-W 2025, 1st WODI Review: Gardner, Healy give Australia winning start in Ashes rivalry

Australia Women secured a four-wicket against England Women to kickstart the Women's Ashes with a bang. Having skittled out the visitors to a mere 204, Australia ended up clinching the win with relative ease. 

Megan Schutt's front foot no ball denied her the dismissal of Maia Bouchier on the just third delivery of the series. However, the English wicketkeeper-batter perished after a few overs. England recovered well by registering 45 at the end of the 10th over as skipper Heather Knight (39 off 48) looked quite comfortable in the middle until she holed out to Ellyse Perry at deep midwicket off Ashleigh Gardner. One wicket brought another as Nat Sciver-Brunt was dismissed for 19 in Gardner's next over, with the Gardner-Perry combination doing the trick again. 

An erratic 18-run over by Kim Garth placed England Women at 140/4 at the end of the 28th over. However, Garth came back well, conceding only four runs in her next three overs to end up with a tidy performance. Danni Wyatt-Hodge scored a patient 38 off 52 before Annabel Sutherland had her caught in the deep by Darcie Brown. Her dismissal brought about a tame end to the innings as Gardner cleaned up Lauren Bell to finish with a three-wicket haul.

It was a markedly contrasting start for Australia in the run-chase. While Lauren Bell was metronomic with her channels, Lauren Filer leaked runs despite dismissing Phoebe Litchfield early on. Despite losing two wickets inside the powerplay, Alyssa Healy held one end up, smacking 11 fours in her 78-ball 70. Healy and Beth Mooney's well-paced 61-run partnership for the third wicket kept Australia on track.

Surprisingly, it took all of 14 overs into the second innings to get Sophie Ecclestone in the attack. She placed her name under the wickets' column in her second over, getting rid of Mooney who scored a run-a-ball 28. When Charlie Dean cleaned up Healy, Australia were five-down and 40 runs off the target. However, a crafty, unbeaten 42 from Gardner led them home with 67 balls to spare.