Women's Ashes: Alana King's four-fer restrict England to 170

Melbourne [Australia], January 30 (ANI): Spinner Alana King, and seamers Kim Gart and Darcie Brown displayed good performance as Australia restricted England to 170 runs on the first day of the only Test match in Women's Ashes 2025 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday.
At Stumps on Day 1, Australia were 56/1 in 22 overs with Phoebe Litchfield unbeaten on the crease as the hosts still trail by 114 runs in reply to the Three Lions total.
Earlier in the day, Australia Women skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match against the opponents.
Batting first, the England Women's side was bundled out for a mere total of 170 runs where the visitors were able to play 71.4 overs on the first day of the Test match.
England Women's all-rounder was the highest run-getter for her side in the first innings where she slammed 51 runs off 129 balls which was laced with four boundaries.
The visitors skipper Heather Knight (25 runs off 50 balls, two fours), Wyatt Hodge (22 runs from 46 balls, three fours), and Sophia Dunkley (21 runs in 71 balls, four boundaries) also scored crucial runs for their side but failed to take their team to a respectable total.
The highest wicket-taker for the Australian side in the first innings was Alana King who snapped three wickets in her spell of 23 overs where she conceded 45 runs and bowled six maiden overs in her spell.
Two wickets each were grabbed by Kim Garth and Darcie Brown and one wicket was bagged by Ashleigh Gardner in their respective spells.
Australian openers Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll came out in the middle to start their innings. Both the players were able to put on just 19 runs as Voll was sent back to the pavillion after scoring 12 runs from 16 balls which came with the help of two fours.
After Voll's dismissal, right-hand batter Annabel Sutherland came out to bat along with Litchfield. Till the end of the day, both players built an unbeaten partnership of 37 runs in 90 balls.
For the English side, the wicket was taken by Lauren Bell who conceded 21 runs in her eight overs where she managed to bowl one maiden over.
Brief Score: England Women 170 all out in 71.4 overs (Nat Sciver Brunt 51, Heather Knight 25, Alana King 4/45) vs Australia Women 56/1 in 22 overs (Annabel Sutherland 24, Phoebe Litchfield 20, Lauren Bell 1/21). (ANI)