England were well beaten in the final of the women’s tri-series by Australia, who piled on the highest total in women’s Twenty20 internationals.
Australia’s 209-4 in Mumbai – propelled by captain Meg Lanning’s 88 not out from 45 balls – beat the previous best of 205-1 made by South Africa.
England lost Bryony Smith and Tammy Beaumont in the first seven balls of their reply and never fully recovered.
Though Nat Sciver made 50 England could only muster 152-9 to lose by 57 runs. It is a third successive defeat for England, who began the tournament by beating Australia, then chasing 199 – a record pursuit in women’s T20s – against hosts India.
However, they were bowled out for 96 and 107 in losing their final two group games to Australia and India respectively, and were thoroughly outplayed in the final.
There are mitigating circumstances. World Cup winners Katherine Brunt and Sarah Taylor were not part of the squad, pace bowler Anya Shrubsole missed the entire tournament with a shoulder injury and captain Heather Knight was ruled out of the final with a hamstring problem.
All four would make England much stronger for the World T20 to be played in the Caribbean in November, while Smith, Alice Davidson-Richards and Katie George all gained a first taste of international cricket.
England coach Mark Robinson told BBC Sport: “We had two aims on this tour – to try new things and hopefully to win.”We got to the final but weren’t good enough on the day. We hung in there, but Lanning and [Elyse] Villani took the game away from us.
“They were at full strength and we were missing at least four players that would be in our best team. The difference in the fielding was huge. They probably saved 10 runs, while we gave away 20.
“We want to win every game. I’d hate for anyone to think I was trying to hide away from any disappointment or saying we don’t care, because we do. But we also have to use this opportunity to keep developing players for the future.”
At the Brabourne Stadium, and with Danielle Hazell in charge in place of Knight, England’s bowling and fielding wilted as Australia’s innings progressed.
When Jenny Gunn removed Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner in the space of three balls, Australia were 66-3 in the eighth over and their good start seemed to have been checked.
But the classy Lanning punished the plentiful loose deliveries served up by England, taking advantage of being dropped on 48 by Smith at mid-on off the bowling of Sophie Ecclestone.
