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Catherine Brent has paid tribute to England captain Heather Knight’s resilience as her century helped regain some momentum from Australia on the second day of the Women’s Ashes Test.
Knight spent more than five hours at the crease, hitting 127 not out to help visitors avoid the follow-up, and closing eight on 235.
Australia held a 102-point advantage on the penultimate day in Canberra, but the second hundred from the away captain saved her team from 120 in Test cricket by six points and brought her back Memories of other triple-digit scores in Ashes red ball cricket in 2013.
That time, Knight batted over seven hours in an epic 157 at-bats, but her long-serving teammate felt the effort was arguably better.
“It’s huge, it’s huge without a doubt, she’s as resilient as ever and has a great fighting spirit,” said Brent, who completed a five-wicket haul earlier in the day.
“She’s 100 percent a leader, and if you want to lead by example, that’s what you do.
“I think it’s better (than 2013), there’s more to this pitch. It’s smart and tough, but that’s what she does.
“None of us thought she would go out and not do it. We all believed she could do it, she did it and Australia did it.
“That level of cricketer and that level of batsman, that’s what they’re going to do. It’s a sad thing for us to have no one to support her, but Sophie Ecclestone does. Excellent.”
A 66-run nonstop for the ninth wicket between Ecclestone and Knight helped the England captain reach triple figures and ensured the team avoided a follow-up in the final hour.
Spinner Ecclestone’s 27 did not exceed her best record in international cricket and Brent hopes to add more runs on day three to further reduce the deficit against hosts Australia, The latter had 9 points on 337 shots.
Brent, who finished with five of 60, added: “I think we personally can win from anywhere. We obviously wanted to win, we got off to a good start but didn’t take our chances.
“If we had taken the opportunity, they could have taken 100 people off their board and now we’d be in a good position, but that didn’t happen.
“We’ve been chasing that back since. Batting isn’t an ideal start, but the fight we’re showing should be an example of what it means to us and what we’re trying to achieve in this Test.
“The last hour was absolutely brilliant as far as giving us some hope. We’ll be looking to reduce the deficit and put some extra runs on the board and come out and fight like hell again.”
Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry, who scored two on 35, praised Knight’s innings, adding: “I think she’s leading the way up front and it’s very classy from the England captain. , a tough game.
“We might expect Heather to say, she’s a great player and it’s really good to watch. It would have been nice to have her out, but she deserves a lot of credit for the way she plays for her team It’s very important to say.”
PA Media
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