Women’s Ashes: Series goes to final stages after amazing Test
It was quite simply a Test match England’s women couldn’t lose. A win or draw would have kept their hopes of regaining cricket’s coveted Ashes alive but a loss would have ended any prospect of a series victory.
So in the shortened four-day Test match – the only long form match in this year’s series – of course it came down to the very last ball of the very last over in the very last session. A draw was the result and the series goes on.
Australia came into this Test 4-2 up after winning one of the Twenty20 matches and seeing the other two declared draws through abandonment.
England knew any result other than an Aussie win would sustain their hopes for the series into the one-day stage.
The Southern Stars declared on 337-9 before England responded with 297 – largely down to captain Heather Knight’s 168 not out for the touring side.
Day three was a washout and so it came down to the final day – women’s Tests are like men’s County Championship games whereby they last four days.
Australia needed to set an unmatchable score and decided that 216 for seven would be just that. England therefore needed 257 from 48 overs if they were to take the win and the four points – no mean feat.
But in a sequence of momentum swings that only Test cricket can provide, England looked as if the Test was all wrapped up as the hours – and overs – faded. They were 218-3, needing just 39 from 45 balls.
Test collapse
Then the wickets tumbled: one in the 40th over, another two overs later, then a third within a further six balls. Suddenly England were 233-6 and facing the dilemma of chasing the win or securing the draw.
Another fell in the 44th over, and then two in the 45th over. England had collapsed to 244-9 and the Aussie bowling attack was circling.
In a pair of overs that drew parallels to Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar’s Ashes last stand in Cardiff in 2009 – where they held out for 11 overs to secure a draw with Australia – Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross diverted from going for the winning shots and instead chose the block.
They navigated the final two overs and shared the spoils, concluding one of the best Test matches in women’s history – maybe ever.
The ebb and flow throughout the four days, every result possible right down to the final over, was intoxicating.
But among the relief of keeping the series alive, there’s no doubt England should have wrapped that Test up and closed the day out with ease.
Captain Knight
After failing to chase a record total – falling 12 runs short – Knight said: “An opportunity missed is the overriding feeling.
“We were in such a great position. The way we went for the game made me really proud, I am just frustrated. It has been an amazing Test.
“I am really proud of the girls.”
The repercussions of the Test are simple: England cannot lose any of the three one-day matches.
With the series poised at 6-4 and two points on offer for each one-day win, England must reach nine points to reclaim the Ashes.
It’s no mean feat, but the resilience and confidence England will pick up from such a great run chase attempt – led by 58 for Natalie Sciver and 48 for Knight – will be comforting to a disappointed squad.
England were 80-1 at the final drinks break and the day saw 449 runs between the two teams on a swinging and spinning pitch.
No matter the result, the Test will go down as one of the greatest. But in a series where it’s all on the line, attention turns to the remaining contests where yet again small margins in the dying moments could decide who finishes the series holding the Ashes.