An all-round effort from Tahlia McGrath single-handedly drove Australia to a nine-wicket win in the first Ashes T20I, at Adelaide Oval. Picked over veteran Ellyse Perry, McGrath repaid the faith with three wickets and an unbeaten 91 as Australia chased down 170 with 18 balls remaining.
Earlier, Tammy Beaumont and Danni Wyatt added 82 for the opening stand after England were put in to bat. They were made to wait for 15 balls for the first boundary, but as the game progressed, both started hitting regular boundaries. Beaumont struck three fours off Tayla Vlaeminck in the fourth over. When Jess Jonassen came into the attack, Wyatt welcomed her with back-to-back sixes.
Beaumont (30) was finally dismissed in the 11th over by Alana King. There was a concern over Wyatt's form, who was got 0 and 2 in the warm-up games, but here she hit six fours and three sixes in her 54-ball 70.
Nat Sciver scored 32 off 24 deliveries, but McGrath removed her and Wyatt in the space of three balls. In the next over, she dismissed Amy Jones to restrict England to 169.
Australia lost Alyssa Healy to Sophie Ecclestone, but McGrath and Meg Lanning, who opened the innings in the absence of Beth Mooney, added 144 for the second wicket to steer their team to a comfortable victory. Lanning struck eight fours in her 44-ball 64, while McGrath's unbeaten 91 took only 49 balls.
The second T20I will be played at the same venue on 22 January.
Brief scores: England 169/4 in 20 overs (Danielle Wyatt 70; Tahlia McGrath 3-26) lost to Australia 170/1 in 17 overs (Tahlia McGrath 91*; Sophie Ecclestone 1-29) by 9 wickets with 18 balls remaining. Player of the Match: Tahlia McGrath.