England’s display in Test match gives Heather Knight ‘real confidence’ ahead of ODIs

Seb SternikSeb Sternik2 February 2022
England captain Heather Knight at a press conference at Manuka Oval in Canberra

England captain Heather Knight at a press conference at Manuka Oval in Canberra

After securing a dramatic draw in the only Test match of the women’s Ashes series, England are looking to kick on ahead of three must-win one-day internationals.

With Australia 6-3 up in the series, England needs to win all of the remaining ODIs in order to regain the Ashes. 

While the task may be daunting, England will be going into action with plenty of confidence after hanging on to a draw during last week's Test match.

The visitors needed 257 runs from 48 overs to snatch victory in Canberra and Knight's team certainly put on a good showing as they trailed by just 45 runs with 60 balls and seven wickets to go.

A valiant fightback from Australia in the final moments of the match saw England's battling order crumble as the tourists were left on 244 for nine.
Nevertheless, Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone held their nerve and survived the final 13 balls to secure a tie.
Reflecting back on the Test match England captain Knight said: "When you have games like that, it's great for the game all round, not just for Test cricket but for the women's game in general.
"I think it's shown that we can fight back and, when we do, go hard at them and put them under pressure and really create a few cracks."
Looking ahead to the three remaining ODIs, Knight is hopeful that the newly found confidence can lead to another strong outing.
She said: "I think it gives us a real confidence, particularly in that second innings. It really was like a one-day chase in 48 overs.
"All of the top five also found a little bit of nick. We haven't had a huge amount of time in the middle, with the weather and the preparation, so that's a really good sign of something."
Australian captain Meg Lanning is expecting an aggressive England performance but is also confident her side can do the business in Canberra.

She said: "I think they'll come at us pretty hard and we'll do the same thing.

"Both teams will have (nerves), but if we can settle into our work as quickly as we can we feel like we can get some momentum and hopefully put them under pressure.
"We're really comfortable with our ODI game at the moment. We feel like it's in a good spot, but we need to make sure we bring our best to beat England."

The first of the three ODIs takes place on Thursday, February 3 at the Manuka Oval. The final two matches will take place in Melbourne at the Junction Oval on February 6 and 8.

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