H
eather Knight hailed England ’s battle after she and “hero” Kate Cross accomplished a outstanding run-chase to degree the Women’s Ashes in Bristol.
Australia have been one win away from retaining the Urn since successful the First T20 at Edgbaston to take a 6-0 lead within the sequence earlier this month, however England’s victory within the First ODI was their third on the spin and has dragged the scoreline again to 6-6.
Knight made an unbeaten 75 to anchor England’s highest successful ODI chase , with Cross’s 19 off 20 balls serving to see the aspect house by two wickets simply as the house tail was threatening to fold.
“It feels excellent,” Knight mentioned. “I thought it was starting to slip away but Kate Cross, what a hero. She was nervous when she came in but we broke it down.
“To beat a very good side is outstanding. The fight in the side is remarkable and we showed that again today. I was trying to keep [the emotion] in.
“It was pure relief and ecstasy. We kept making it hard for ourselves but I was a lot calmer than I would have been watching.”
The end result means the sequence stays reside heading into Sunday’s Second ODI in Southampton, with the Third to comply with at Taunton on Tuesday.
A win in both recreation would see Australia retain the Ashes however the world champions should now win each matches to take the sequence outright, whereas successive England victories would full essentially the most unlikely of comebacks.
“Every game has been so close,” Knight added. “It’s been an superior sequence. I needed to be there on the finish. It was pure pleasure.
“We’ve saved rising as a group and we’re nonetheless bought a protracted strategy to go. We’ve saved calm within the large moments. We’ve bought loads of momentum. The help from the group was unreal once more. It has actually made the distinction for us.”
