Worcestershire Women’s Rapids player Sarah Glenn enjoyed more success on her return to the England Women’s team – but she and her team-mates missed out on qualifying for the final of the Tri-Series in Australia.
Glenn took her wicket tally to 17 in nine internationals with a return of 2-18 from her four overs in the final group game against the host nation at the Junction Oval, Melbourne.
But England could not chase down a 133 target and lost by 16 runs.
It meant they failed on run rate to reach Wednesday’s final which will be contested between Australia Women and India Women.
Glenn, who did not play in the previous match against India Women, and fellow spinner Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-19-2) again produced excellent performances.
On a slow, used pitch, Glenn came into the attack for the eighth over and her second – the 10th – saw her bowl Meg Lanning for 12 at 54-3.
She returned to bowl the 14th and 16th overs and the final ball of her spell accounted for opener and top scorer Beth Mooney who was also bowled for 50 from 40 balls.
Australia closed on 132-7 and then their spinners also made good use of the conditions as England were restricted to 116-7 with Glenn not required to bat.
England captain Heather Knight said: “It’s disappointing because that was probably our most complete bowling performance.
“All of the bowlers bowled really well, we kept them under pressure throughout and took wickets at key times.
“We never really had a batter in and Australia utilised the conditions really well. We want to be aggressive but they made it hard for us.
“I think it’s a defeat we should be able to learn a lot from, and in general I think it’s been a decent tri-series for us.
“We’ve had a chance to fine-tune some things, and at times we’ve seen good performances with both bat and ball.
“It’s been good preparation, it’s obviously annoying to miss out on run-rate (on the final) but it’s all about improving and being ready for the World Cup proper.”
