Nat Sciver-Brunt riding wave of emotion in hard-fought Ashes series

This Women's Ashes series has been an emotional one for Nat Sciver-Brunt but, like the rest of her England team, she is hoping to ride a wave of positivity into another must-win game, at Lord's on Saturday night.

England have to prevail in the third and final T20I and the three ODIs which follow if they are to win back the Ashes, while Australia need to win just one of those four matches to ensure the series ends at least in a draw so that they can retain them.

England triumphed by three runs in a thrilling match at The Oval on Wednesday to level the T20I leg at 1-1 and keep the multi-format series alive with Australia holding a 6-2 points lead with eight more points on offer. It was England's first win against Australia in 11 completed matches across all formats dating back to February 2020 when they won their T20I in a Super Over in Canberra.

"It just helps with the belief in our group," Sciver-Brunt said. "The gap wasn't that big. It was probably just a mental gap that we had before. Skill-wise I'd say we're probably pretty evenly matched but you don't become a world-class team for nothing. You have to know how to win from all places and all positions in the game. That's something Australia have done really well for the last five or ten years.

"The biggest shift has been in our mentality and how we go about it, especially in the big moments in the game. In T20 there's so many little things that can happen to change the course of the match. So to have that belief and that resilience in ourselves throughout the match is really important… After the game it felt like, 'oh, this is what we should be doing the whole time.'

"There was a lot of emotion in the change room and, if anything, it will spur us on really to keep playing in the way that we have been playing. I guess it sort of validates that a little bit as well. We know Australia will be coming hard at us and hopefully we can combat that."

Sarah Glenn, the England leg-spinner who took two wickets as England defended a total of 186 for 9 built on an excellent innings of 76 by opener Danni Wyatt, also described an emotional atmosphere in the changing-room immediately after the win and, for Sciver-Brunt, it was a high that made up for some lows during the 89-run Test defeat at Trent Bridge, where she managed to bowl just 14 overs all up due to a knee injury.

Sciver-Brunt didn't bowl in the first T20I then went wicketless and conceded 18 runs from two overs in the second, although she said she was fit to bowl a full four overs if required at Lord's. With the bat, she scored 78 and 0 in the Test followed by 7 and 23 in the T20Is.

"I'm feeling good," she said. "My knee's recovered pretty well from a little injection after the Test match, so I'm really happy with how it's going and much happier to being able to contribute to both sides of the game.

"I had some inflammation in my knee which happened in my first over bowling in the Test match, and made it really painful to run and walk so the Test match week was a weird, emotional week for me.

"I've played pretty much all my career as an allrounder and I thrive off being able to contribute to everything in the game - batting, bowling and fielding - so it was a bit emotional really that I couldn't do that and felt like I was letting people down and things like that. I'm glad to be able to be in a good place to do that now."

Each contest in this series has been close, England pushing Australia at various stages in the Test and Australia only scraping a four-wicket win with a ball to spare in the first T20I at Edgbaston.

Alyssa Healy, Australia's captain, and England vice-captain Sciver-Brunt have both said their sides are yet to produce their best cricket in the T20Is, which augurs well for another bumper crowd expected at Lord's. By Friday afternoon, nearly 20,000 tickets had sold for the match, after 20,328 attended The Oval and 19,527 turned out in Birmingham.

The fixtures in Bristol, Southampton and Taunton are also all sold out, making the 50-over leg the first bilateral ODI series in women's cricket to be a sell-out, according to the ECB.

"Playing in front of that many people and riding that energy that you get from the crowd is something really, really special. Hopefully we can replicate that tomorrow night," Sciver-Brunt said.

Making the occasion even more special from Sciver-Brunt's perspective is the fact that her wife, Katherine, the England seamer who recently retired after a 19-year career, will ring the five-minute bell at Lord's where she was Player of the Match in the 2009 T20 World Cup final and won the 2017 50-over World Cup. That's sure to be emotional too.