Few predicted that England under Heather Knight could tie the multi-format points-based Ashes series after Australia jumped out to an early 6-0 lead.
England and Knight were possibly two of the only people who did had faith.
The team’s skipper predicted that they would “fly” after getting beyond the psychological barrier of defeating the world champions, which they did in the second T20 at The Oval.
However, England is not simply soaring.
In an intriguing turn of events, Australia is the one giving in to the pressure as they soar.
After England’s 2-1 series victory in the T20 leg, there was a feeling that they had already accomplished enough, surpassed expectations, and that things would return to normal in the 50-over format.
After all, Australia is strong in this area; they are the current world champions and have not been defeated by England in this format since 2017.
And in a fitting coincidence, that victory also occurred at Bristol, where Knight’s team had just defeated Australia by a close margin of two wickets to draw even with them.
With only one victory needed for Australia to retain the trophy, England still has a difficult challenge ahead of them. They must win one of their two remaining games (or both, if the other is tied or washed out).
However, England is maintaining their grounding in spite of the hype.
Tammy Beaumont, an English batter, remarked, “We’re not taking them lightly, they’re not pushovers in the least.”
But we’re doing well in the cricket. We fought them head-to-head.
Although we have always believed we can defeat them, in the past we probably wouldn’t have believed it possible after falling behind 6-0.
Lauren Filer’s raw pace in the Test match and the ruthless white ball striking of Alice Capsey and Danni Wyatt were the catalysts for England’s aggressive style of play, which has dominated the series.
And there is still much room for improvement. At Bristol, England wasted a stumping opportunity and lost five more opportunities, chasing at least 40 extra runs than was necessary.
How Australia will manage the pressure is maybe the most intriguing aspect of it all.
There is no precedence for how this Australia team will respond, while England is relishing the novelty of playing somewhere new.
Alyssa Healy, the skipper, called the T20 loss that put England back in the running a “kick up the bum”; but, the performance at Bristol suggested the kick may not have been as hard as it could have been.
Under the leadership of skipper Meg Lanning, who is not participating in the tour due to health concerns, they have developed a reputation as a team with exceptionally high standards.
They frustrate batters with their consistency, beat down bowlers with their bat, and make acrobatic fielding saves when everyone in the stadium believes it’s going for four.
However, in the first ODI, balls slipped through legs to the boundary, fielders gave up on (for them) manageable chases, bowlers conceded 17 wides, and several batters easily threw away their wickets.
Whether this is due to Lanning’s absence or a psychological effect brought on by England’s hostility is difficult to determine.
The fact that Australia are presumably still favorites and that England had to fight really hard for the victories, despite their subpar performances, demonstrates Australia’s excellence.
They are not used to being the injured tiger, and England is not used to being the hunter after being the victim so frequently.
England must embrace history or the established order will be reinstated.
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