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After an exhilarating Day 1 in the only Ashes Test between Australia Women and England Women, it was a mixed Day 2 as both teams played top-notch cricket in patches. Australia put up a mammoth 337/9 in their first innings before declaring as four batters ended with fifties in their innings. After initial struggles, England managed to come back in the contest and ended Day 2 at 235/8. Skipper Heather Knight, still unbeaten on 127, is fighting the fort for the English team as they still trail by 102 runs. It is worth reminding that no women's team has ever won a Test match despite conceding more than 300 runs on Day 1.
Katherine Brunt’s fifer helps England restrict Australia
With murky conditions at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, Australia captain Meg Lanning did not waste time and declared within the first hour before Katherine Brunt scalped two wickets, while Australia ended their innings at 337/9. They only added 10 runs to their total as Brunt ended with a fifer. Brunt picked both Annabel Sutherland and Jess Jonassen to complete her five-wicket haul.
Australia start on front foot
With conditions looking favourable for bowling, skipper Lanning unleashed the pair of Darcie Brown and Ellyse Perry as they sent both the openers home. Lauren Winfield Hill (4) and Tammy Beaumont (5) left early as England struggled at 23/2. Things went from bad to worse within no time as Natalie Sciver (15) and Sophia Dunkley (15) soon departed without making any significant contributions. This left England in a spot of bother with the scoreline reading 79/4.
Heather's second Test ton rescues England
England skipper Knight led from the front as she kept one end intact, despite losing wickets at regular intervals at the other end. In the 72nd over of the innings, Knight brought up her second Test ton by taking a single. Interestingly, the previous one was also scored against Australia in the Ashes back in August 2013, nine years after her previous one. Her exploits helped England move from 169/8 to 235/8 as Knight along with Sophie Ecclestone (27) put together an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 66 runs before the end of day's play.
History not on England's side
No team has ever won a women's Test match after scoring more than 300 runs on Day 1. Indeed it will take a piece of history if England Women are to clinch a monumental win. As things stand, with two days remaining, Knight and company will have to reduce the run deficit before performing with the ball to have any chance of winning the match.
