Taylor stars with bat and gloves

England 204 for 5 (Knight 69, Taylor 64) beat Australia 203 for 4 (Lanning 64) by five wickets
Scorecard

England took the lead in the women's Ashes series, and secured the one-day prize, with an expertly paced run chase at Hove. Needing 204 in 36 overs, in a match reduced due to a wet outfield, they eased home with 16 balls to spare after a second-wicket stand of 126 in 18 overs between Heather Knight and Sarah Taylor broke the back of the target.

Taylor, who struck 64 off 59 balls, enjoyed a fabulous all-round match having earlier pulled off a stunning piece of glovework to remove Jodie Fields who played a reverse sweep which was caught by Taylor as she anticipated the shot and dived full-length to her right.

Taylor said: "I couldn't believe that ball stuck in my glove, I saw it coming and just dived to stop it and get something on it and it just stuck, I think that's got to be the best catch of my career so far."

Charlotte Edwards fell early in the chase, driving to short cover, but Knight and Taylor were soon up with the required rate. The pair used swift footwork against the spinners and weren't afraid to hit the ball over the top. Their stand was a record second-wicket effort for England against Australia.

The pursuit wobbled briefly as three wickets fell for 29 but Lydia Greenway and Natalie Sciver added 33 to take England to the brink of victory and two more points.

"We spoke about being positive from ball one and with targets like that you've got to put the ball away if it's in your area," Taylor said. "It was brilliant to bat out there with Heather and to contribute to the win."

Australia's innings had initially been anchored by Meg Lanning's 69-ball 64 but at 126 for 4 was threatening to lose its way. Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell added 77 in 10 overs for the fifth wicket to lift them over 200, but it still did not prove enough.

The Ashes series, played across all three formats, now moves into the final phase with three Twenty20s.