Knight anchors England to 172 for six on day two
12th August 2013Heather Knight produced a gusty unbeaten 85 to help England reach 172 for six at the end of the second day at the Women’s Ashes Test match at Wormsley after Australia had declared on 331 for six.
Australia’s Sarah Elliott completed her maiden Test century in the morning session before England’s Anya Shrubsole had her caught at point by Lydia Greenway. Both Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt continued to build pressure as Brunt bowled Australian captain Jodie Fields for six. Laura Marsh then trapped Alex Blackwell in front with her first delivery of the day before the tourists declared on 331 for six shortly before lunch.
England made a positive start knocking 80 runs off their first 22 overs despite the early loss of Arran Brindle. Heather Knight anchored England’s innings as Holly Ferling dismissed Sarah Taylor, who struck a fluent 33, and Charlotte Edwards in quick succession before Erin Osborne made a trio of breakthroughs leaving England struggling on 113 for six.
Then Marsh joined Knight to put on 59 from the remaining 36 overs of the day with Knight finishing unbeaten on 85 and her partner Marsh on 13 not out.
Berkshire’s Heather Knight said: “It’s a pretty good pitch out there and with Laura we managed to put together a partnership. Our team bats really low down the order so hopefully we can go out tomorrow, score a few more runs and then come hard at them with the ball.
“I decided to concentrate on what I was doing at my end and not worrying too much about the wickets we were losing other end. I feel good about my cricket at the moment. Whatever I’m doing is working so it’s just about carrying that on. I think it’s going really well.
“However we still need 10 more to avoid follow-on so that is our first objective and then there’s the new ball in six overs so hopefully that will bring a few more runs.”
Rights free images from today’s play are available to download from the link below. Please credit all images to: Getty Images for the ECB.