Heather Knight feels England display in drawn Test gives boost for crucial ODIs

Heather Knight reckons England can take “real confidence” from their display in the only Test of the women’s Ashes as they head into the must-win one-day internationals.

The tourists were set a target of 257 from 48 overs to snatch victory on the fourth and final day at the Manuka Oval and looked on course when they were left needing 45 runs off the final 60 balls with seven wickets in hand.

Meg Lanning’s Australia fought back and became favourites when England fell to 244 for nine, but Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone managed to see out the final 13 balls to secure a draw.

England captain Knight believes the thrilling conclusion is great for the sport.

“When you have games like that, it’s great for the game all round, not just for Test cricket but for the women’s game in general,” the 31-year-old said.

The draw means Australia hold a 6-4 lead heading into the final three ODIs of the multi-format series, having won the opening T20 before two subsequent washouts.

With an ODI victory worth two points, England need to win all three matches to make sure of regaining the Ashes and Knight believes her side can feed off the battling spirit shown in the red-ball game.

“I think it’s shown that we can fight back and, when we do, go hard at them and put them under pressure and really create a few cracks,” she said.

“I think it gives us a real confidence, particularly in that second innings. It really was like a one-day chase in 48 overs.

“All of the top five also found a little bit of nick. We haven’t had a huge amount of time in the middle, with the weather and the preparation, so that’s a really good sign of something.”

England look set to have a full squad at their disposal for the ODIs, having come through the Test unscathed.

Lanning expects both sides to start on the front foot as they look to ease early nerves in the only day-night ODI in Canberra.

“I think they’ll come at us pretty hard and we’ll do the same thing, but if we can settle into the contest really nicely early and just settle the nerves a little bit,” the Australia captain said.

“Both teams will have (nerves), but if we can settle into our work as quickly as we can we feel like we can get some momentum and hopefully put them under pressure.”

She added: “We’re really comfortable with our ODI game at the moment. We feel like it’s in a good spot, but we need to make sure we bring our best to beat England.”