The one-off Ashes Women’s Test match between England and Australia ended in a thrilling draw even as Heather Knight and her girls went for the total, with Meg Lanning and her team pulling them back in the last hour of the final day's play.
The Manuka Oval in Canberra was the site for one of the best advertisements for why women’s Test cricket must be given more importance as two of the top sides in the world clashed in an amazing encounter.
After being put in to bat as Knight won the toss, Australia managed 337/9d with Rachel Haynes (86), Meg Lanning (93), Tahlia McGrath (52), and Ashleigh Gardner (56) making half-centuries. Katherine Brunt picked 5/60, while Nat Sciver took three wickets.
WATCH - Mitchell Starc and Alyssa Healy share an adorable moment during Women's Ashes Test
Heather Knight led from the front, scoring 168* as England tumbled to 297 all out. Ellyse Perry with three and Annabel Sutherland with two were the main demolishers for Australia.
In the second innings, despite rain playing spoilsport, Australia managed 216/7d with Beth Mooney making 63 and Ellyse Perry making 41 runs. Brunt once again picked 3 wickets, making it 8 scalps for her in the match.
England was set 257 runs to win in the fourth innings and they made the record fourth innings total in Women’s Test history as they ended the day on 245/9. Both teams deserved to win. Neither deserved to lose.
IND v WI 2022: West Indies name an unchanged squad for T20I series against India
Nat Sciver made 58 and Knight added 48 to her first innings score of 168*. However, things had looked very different only an hour before the finish, with England going great guns in their chase of 257. The visitors suffered a collapse which saw them lose six wickets for 26 runs, putting Australia back in contention.
In the end, both sides shook hands with England surviving the last two overs, which led to one of the most thrilling endings to a women’s Test match.
The cricket fraternity was all praises for such an amazing advertisement of women’s Test cricket and shared their reactions on one of the most amazing matches on Twitter.
Here are the tweets:
