England had the hosts on the ropes on a rare bad day until Australian leg-spinner Alana King helped turn the second ODI in Melbourne

They say that the mark of a champion team is winning on a bad day. Or, they might say that. We’re not sure who “they” are, perhaps the people who invent copy for books of fake Vince Lombardi quotes. But it does sound like the sort of phrase that could be vaguely true and has a hollow ring of wisdom.

Australia’s women proved that imaginary thesis in the second Women’s Ashes one-day international, winning a match that they had absolutely no right to. A mixture of their confidence under pressure and England’s complete lack under the same scenario meant Australia defended a target of 181 with 11 balls and 21 runs to spare, after a poor home batting performance had given the visitors every chance to level the multi-format series on two points apiece.