NEWS
Follow UsAustralia skipper Meg Lanning described the one-off Ashes Test in Canberra, which ended in a thrilling draw after the last English pair of Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross hung on, as one of the best ever Tests she’s been part of, and admitted that her side were a tad lucky to have walked away with the draw.
On the final day, Australia set England a target of 257 to chase down, and the visitors, at one point, were well on their way to registering a famous win, with Nat Sciver and Sophia Dunkley’s 52-run stand putting England in pole position at 218/3. However, a major collapse then ensued, with the visitors losing their next five wickets for just 26 runs, nearly gifting the game to the hosts.
Eventually Ecclestone and Cross batted nearly three overs to salvage a draw, and Lanning said that her mind was ‘frazzled’ following the thrilling encounter.
"I feel like we might have got away with one a little bit," Lanning said after the game, reported ESPN Cricinfo.
"But still we were in a pretty good position to win. Still not sure what to make of it… as good a Test as I've been involved in."
"My mind is a bit frazzled to be honest. There was a lot going on there. We weren't sure it was enough time to bowl them out but felt it gave us an opportunity. England batted really well, it was still a pretty good wicket, and they put us under pressure then it was nice to flip it around a bit at the backend. It was a pretty amazing game in the end."
Meanwhile England’s Nat Sciver, who top scored for her side on the final day with 58, said that she was ‘more sad than happy’ at her side walking away with merely a draw.
"Test match cricket can be very emotionally draining and tiring but when it comes down to that, [and] you have a chance to win, unfortunately I feel more sad than happy at the minute," Sciver said. "We'll be able to reflect and hopefully take the positives because we played so well to get ourselves into that position and it felt like we were going to get over the line but we weren't able to. Saving it became very important."
Sciver said that she felt calm throughout the whole time, but revealed that there were plenty of nervous teammates around her. The 29-year-old admitted that it became vitally important for England to ensure that they walked out with the draw after the collapse made Australia the favorites to win.
"I felt calm, sort of, on the bench," Sciver said.
"There were more nervous people around me. Up until it was Sophie and Crossy in at the end we were still thinking about getting it, we were still in the game and wanted to go for it, but the ninth wicket fell and it was about saving it."
With Australia having already sealed the T20I series 1-0, the Lanning-led side will need to win just one of the three ODIs to retain the urn. The three-match ODI series will kick-off in Canberra on Thursday, February 3.
