"I thought we had it in the end": England skipper Heather Knight after Australia retained Ashes series
Jul 17, 2023
Southampton [UK], July 17 : England skipper Heather Knight said that she thought they had the victory before Australia snatched away the win right from their hands to retain the Ashes on Sunday.
In the final over of the game, England needed 15 runs to keep the Ashes series alive. With Nat Sciver-Brunt unbeaten on 101, the hosts were favourites to walk away with victory.
However, Jess Jonassen's clinical penultimate over, ruled out the chances of England's victory as Australia won the game by 3 runs.
"Amazing to get so close. Nat was outstanding in the way she played. Outstanding fight from the girls to get that close. I thought we had it in the end, Nat played an outstanding innings. But credit to Australia, another big battle. The ODI series is still on the line. Lot easier to be out there than watching in the dressing room. It's been an outstanding series, got to be the best series ever in women's cricket in my opinion the way both sides have played," Knight said in the post-match presentation.
Australia managed to put up a total of 282 and Georgia Wareham smashed 26 off Lauren Bell's penultimate over swung played a significant role. This knock swung the moment back in the favour of the visitors. Knight admitted that this played a crucial role in deciding the fate of the game.
"We let them get a few too many in the end. The way we pulled it back in the middle, we didn't take the wickets, a couple of half-chances went away. Wareham batted outstandingly to swing it in their favour. We felt it was still a chase-able total, their leg-spinners bowled pretty well. The youngsters will learn a lot. The way we fought back in the series, we felt like we really had the momentum," Knight added.
After missing out on the Ashes series, Knight made their goals clear ahead of the third and the final ODI of the multi-format Ashes 2023 series.
"We can draw the series and win the ODI series, that would be a massive achievement against this team. Australia have played well, we've evenly matched. It's been a huge positive series for us," Knight signed off.
Coming to the match, Australia secured a three-run victory over England in the second ODI to retain the Women's Ashes series with a game to spare. The result gave Australia an 8-6 lead in the multi-format series ahead of the final ODI at Taunton on Tuesday.
Ellyse Perry's knock of 91 runs followed by Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King's three-wicket hauls played a crucial role in their nail-biting three-run victory.
