Ellyse Perry pick of the lot once again as Australia retain women's Ashes after draw in only Test

Taunton: Australia retained the women’s Ashes after the only Test match in the series played across multiple formats ended in a draw at Taunton on Sunday.

Australia's Ellyse Perry in action against England in the only Ashes Test. Reuters

After Australia had declared their first innings on 420-8, England avoided the follow-on and asked Australia to bat again, declaring at 275/9.

However, the visitors elected not to set a victory target and had reached 230/7 at the end of play.

Ellyse Perry was again the pick of the Australian batters, following up her first innings 116 with an unbeaten 76 in the second.

The result means Ashes holders Australia, who lead England 8-2 on points having won all three of the one-day internationals, will retain the trophy.

England can only level the series if they win the three remaining Twenty20 international games, starting on Friday.

“It’s certainly a good position to be in. We had a hard four-day battle and it was a good challenge. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a result here, but it was a great Test,” Australia skipper Meg Lanning said.

Ellyse Perry is first woman to make three consecutive 50+ scores in Test cricket since India's Hemlata Kala in 2002-06.

The last Australians to do so were Belinda Clark & Karen Rolton, who matched each others efforts across three innings during the 1998 Ashes.#ENGvAUS #Ashes

— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) July 21, 2019

“It’s been a lot closer than the scoreboard suggests, and we’re really looking forward to the T20s.”

A points system to determine the winner of a series has been used in women’s cricket since the 2013 Ashes. Teams are awarded two points for victory in limited-overs games and six in Tests.

Drawn limited-overs games result in one point being awarded to both teams and two each if a Test ends in a stalemate.

BRIEF SCORES: Australia women: 420/8 declared (Perry 116, Haynes 87; Brunt 2/48) & 230/7 (Perry 76*; Knight 3/25) drew with England women: 275/9 declared (Sciver 88, Jones 64; Molineux 4/95) at Taunton.