The one-off Women’s Ashes 2019 Test ended in a tame draw after Australia didn’t declare on the final day even with enough runs on the board. Meg Lanning has defended the decision as they had to take the call depending on various factors.

Australia went into the second innings with a hefty 145-run lead on the final day. The fans expected the Aussies to declare after scoring some runs quickly to try and win the Test. However, they kept on batting before shaking hands with the England captain.

The fans and critics questioned Australia’s tactics and Lanning told the ICC about the reasons they took the call of batting all the way.

The ICC website quoted Lanning saying, “We thought about it (declaring) and had a good chat about what our options were, and whether we could force a result, but we looked at how many overs were left, especially given how many wickets were falling.”

“Test cricket's supposed to be hard and a tough battle, and I think that's exactly what it was. Both teams were trying to get an advantage. I don't think it was entirely either team's fault where we ended up in the game. At different points, we were trying to win it; we just lost time throughout and it got to a point where we felt we couldn't win the game,” she added.

Before the Test series, Australia whitewashed England 3-0 in the ODI series. Now that the Test ended in a draw, Australia is leading England 8-2 in the points tally. The T20I series that follows will have three matches with 2 points for each win. Even if England win all the three games, they will be tied with Australia at 8 points each.

(Source: IANS)