"We just have to reset, refocus": Australia skipper Alyssa Healy after close defeat against England
Jul 06, 2023
London [UK], July 6 : Australia is aiming to come up trumps after a loss to England in the second T20I with skipper Alyssa Healy stating that they just have to reset, refocus.
The battle for the Women's Ashes remains alive after England's thrilling three-run triumph over Australia in the second T20I at The Oval on Wednesday.
While Australia won the first match by four wickets with one ball to spare at Edgbaston on Saturday, a subpar fielding performance and a batting collapse from 59 without loss to 96 for 5 on Wednesday allowed England to keep the Women's Ashes series alive.
"It felt like we were slightly off in every facet of the game again - and we mentioned that after the last game - but we were probably a little bit worse again tonight. I guess it's some sort of comfort to know that we didn't play our best and still only lost by four runs. We'll just pinpoint it over the next day and a half, and hopefully put it all together for Lord's [for the third T20I]," Healy was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"We're allowed to lose games of cricket. England also came out at the start of the series and said this is their strongest format. So you've got to potentially think they're going to challenge you at some point, and they did tonight. It's the game of cricket. You win some, you lose some. Fortunately for us, we haven't lost a lot. But in saying that, hopefully we learn a lot more out of the loss tonight," she added.
Australia leads the multi-format series 6-2 and England need to win the remaining T20I at Lord's on Saturday and then triumph in all three ODIs later this month to claim the Ashes from their fierce rival.
"We spoke about what [are] some areas that we needed to improve on for the last game, and I think we improved in some of them. But we're still sort of letting ourselves down in some little one percenters in the game - whether it be the fielding or execution with bat and ball - so there's not much you can do about it," Healy said.
"You can train all you like but ultimately if you turn up with a ruthless attitude and a want to win, you can get yourselves over the line. I'm not saying that's what the issue is but we just [have to] reset, refocus," she added.
