England suffered another calamitous collapse at the hands of Australia in Northampton today to give the tourists a 118-run win as well as victory in the CricInfo One-Day International series with one game remaining.

For the fourth successive innings, England's poor batting proved their downfall as they crashed to 109 all out in 47.3 overs, well short of the 228 target set them by Belinda Clark's all-powerful squad.

Australian all-rounder Karen Rolton reflects on her match-winning performance at Northampton and looks ahead to facing England at Lord's

It was a disappointing finale after England's bowlers and fielders had performed well to restrict Australia to 227 in their 50 overs. But as happened so many times at the 2000 World Cup, their efforts were rendered meaningless by the unsatisfactory batting.

Even before England had opened their account, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, billed as the Glenn McGrath of women's cricket for her pace and metronomic precision, had dismissed opener Hannah Lloyd for a duck with the sixth ball of the innings.

Lloyd was hit in the midriff two balls earlier and was unable to recover her concentration before the wily Fitzpatrick produced a superb ball that moved slightly off the seam, finding its way between bat and pad to the stumps.

It was the start England did not want and from nought for one, Sarah Collyer and Arran Thompson were charged with the task of restoring some dignity.

Collyer was dropped on 10 by Lisa Keightley at first slip but Fitzpatrick picked up her second wicket with another excellent delivery which found the edge of Thompson's bat, going straight to the wicketkeeper.

Collyer and Claire Taylor, who top scored in the first One-Day International at Derby with 39, managed to add 16 to the total but Taylor became the victim of a leg before decision by umpire Kathy Taylor which on television replay proved erroneous.

Keightley missed another chance at slip to send England captain Clare Connor packing before she was off the mark but the introduction of medium pacer Karen Rolton into the attack was to prove disastrous for England.

Rolton was called on early by her skipper when leg-spinner Olivia Magno twisted her ankle while batting and was taken to hospital for an X-ray. But in the space of eight overs, she blitzed the England middle order (3-14) by coaxing them into costly errors.

She was helped by the setting of a hostile field by Australia's ruthless captain with all players inside the 30 metre ring even though they had passed the 15 over mark. The pressure on England's young and inexperienced batsmen proved too much and the demise was swift.

From 67 for four, they crumbled to 69 for seven putting victory well out of their grasp and with 10 overs remaining, they needed an unlikely 133 with two wickets left.

Jane Cassar battled bravely for her 21 but was stumped coming down the wicket to Julie Hayes and an embarrassing slip up by Lucy Pearson mid wicket marked the end of England's innings.

Earlier, Australian captain Belinda Clark had little hesitation in choosing to bat when she won the toss. The Wantage Road pitch was bone dry, rock hard and well suited to the visitor's hard-hitting approach.

Since she arrived in England, Clark has been unusually short of runs but she eyed up the pitch as her opportunity to recover some form and from the second ball she faced, she was on her way.

For a slightly built woman, Clark possesses immense power and that, combined with a solid technique and a keen eye for gaps in the field, enabled her to push the score along briskly.

She was dropped by Claire Taylor at first slip on 26, a difficult chance, but she went on to complete her half-century in 87 balls hitting five boundaries.

By the time she departed for 69, well bowled by spinner Dawn Holden with a ball that clipped the top of her off stump, England had already seen off her partner Lisa Keightley for 34 after Kate Lowe took a brilliant catch diving to her left at mid wicket.

The openers put on 101 for the first wicket but England stepped up the pressure, maintaining a tight control over line and length and making some fine stops in the field.

Karen Rolton, who made an excellent 79 in the first ODI in Derby, looked set to wreck this discipline with another show of powerful hitting and quick running. After 54 balls, she had already reached her half-century and was providing a 500-strong crowd with some top class entertainment.

Rolton became England's fifth wicket when in the 44th over she drove Sarah Collyer over mid on and gave Arran Thompson a chance which was well judged and safely taken.

Olivia Magno was stumped coming down to the wicket to Holden but as she turned to get back to her crease, she twisted her ankle and had to be carried off the field.

Another two wickets fell in the last three overs reflecting a much stronger performance from England in the field. Holden was the pick of the bowlers with 3-48 from her ten over spell though Connor proved the most economical with 2-38 from nine.

Competition sponsors CricInfo awarded their man of the match award to Australian Karen Rolton while team sponsors Vodafone chose Dawn Holden as their England player of the match.

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